Jaguar Land Rover to open Manchester software centre
Vehicle manufacturing giant Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to open a new software, IT and engineering centre in Manchester to support its strategy to introduce connected technologies in future vehicles.
With technical innovation at the heart of Jaguar Land Rover, the new Manchester centre will work alongside the company’s engineering teams at the Gaydon Pioneering Hub, Warwickshire, the global design and engineering HQ, along with the Republic of Ireland, China, and North America.
The small team will pioneer new software technology to help create the next generation of future connected car technologies.
In addition, it will work on a range of mobility services and developing new technology features on future Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.
Nick Rogers, executive director of product engineering, said: “As the automotive industry continues to embrace autonomous, connected and electrified technologies, Jaguar Land Rover remains committed to engineering innovative software that will make our customers’ lives better, by creating premium in-car experiences that they love.
“With the Manchester team supporting the creation of connected car technology, the new centre is a fantastic opportunity for us to keep pushing the boundaries towards seamless connectivity, with disruptive technical solutions, and I look forward to welcoming our new colleagues into our product engineering team.”
Jaguar Land Rover is looking for IT specialists, software engineers and developers with experience in a range of disciplines such as cloud-based features, vehicle software and vehicle architecture.
Manchester is the UK’s second largest digital city and is recognised as a centre of excellence for software engineers, particularly ‘over the air’ software skills.
With a large skilled talent pool, Manchester has the ambition to be recognised as a leading global digital city region and top five in Europe by 2020.
The company said drawing on this regional talent is essential to combat the current skills shortage that Jaguar Land Rover is attempting to overcome as it prepares for growth.
Jaguar Land Rover said it is working to create an ever-safer and enhanced driving experience.
The firm said: “With more than 100 million lines of code per vehicle, we are revolutionising our customers’ relationships with their vehicles.
“Each one is internet-enabled and connected, with smart features designed to remind, warn, support and be one step ahead, helping to make each journey safer and more enjoyable.
“We are delivering technologies that lead the way in connectivity and autonomy. For example, in the future our vehicles will ‘talk’ to each other and notify drivers of potential hazards ahead.”
In January this year the company announced plans to open a new software engineering hub in Ireland.
The centre, in Shannon, will create 150 jobs aimed at developing advanced automated driving and electrification technologies.
