Bringing Machine Learning to Materials Handling: Our Portfolio Company Third Wave is Hiring
Based in Union City, California, Third Wave is reimagining material handling in warehouses by applying artificial intelligence (AI) to forklifts. Through a combination of machine learning, computer vision, and cloud robotics, Third Wave is producing autonomous forklifts that can collaborate with operators whenever needed. This ultimately increases warehouse productivity and improves the overall safety of the facilities for workers.
Since joining the Toyota AI Ventures portfolio in 2018 and emerging from stealth in 2020, Third Wave has expanded the team significantly, and is now facing increased demand as the pandemic has accelerated the need for safe, functional warehouse automation solutions. If you’re interested in contributing to Third Wave’s goal of increasing safety, efficiency, and throughput in warehouses, check out these two jobs available on the Toyota AI Ventures jobs board: Front End Software Engineer and Technical Program Manager.
Front End Software Engineer (Union City, California)
As a front end software engineer, you will have the opportunity to design and deliver the operator’s side of autonomous forklifts. By working with our engineers and customers to bridge the gap between graphical design and technical implementation, you will take an active role on both sides and define how the interface looks and works. Specifically, this role requires you to develop new user-facing features and mobile-based features, build reusable code and libraries, ensure the technical feasibility of UI/UX designs, and write functional requirement documents and guides. You can also expect to play a key part in optimizing Third Wave’s application for maximum speed and scalability.
The ideal candidate has a degree in computer science or relevant work experience, as well as an understanding of web markup, server-side CSS pre-processing platforms, client-side scripting, and JavaScript frameworks. You should also be comfortable with modern software engineering practice, which includes code review, version control, testing, and continuous integration. Familiarity with browser testing and debugging or backend systems is a plus, as is experience in human robot interaction.
Technical Program Manager (Union City, California)
In this role, you will work closely with our world-class team of engineers, early pilot customers, and manufacturing partners to take our technology from prototype to shipping product, making sure to align customer requirements with company goals. You will be instrumental in developing project plans, identifying and managing issues and risks, and providing actionable feedback related to cost-benefit and return-on-investment. You will communicate with all involved personnel to identify problems, create solutions, and implement efficiency improvements, and you will simultaneously manage tradeoffs between schedule, scope, and cost.
At a minimum, you need a bachelor’s degree or equivalent and five or more years of experience in a similar role. Previous experience managing complex hardware/software product development projects — using a combination of methodologies including Agile, iterative, and waterfall — is a must. You should possess knowledge of multiple functional areas such as software and hardware development, UX/UI, systems engineering, sales, operations, finance, and marketing. A solid grasp of robotics, machine learning, data science, and AI is also strongly preferred.
Learn more about a career at Third Wave and explore other job opportunities on the Toyota AI Ventures jobs board. A number of our portfolio companies are also recruiting right now, so be sure to sign up for the Toyota AI Ventures Talent Network.
