Slate plans to double staff and invest $10.4 million at Michigan HQ

[nstrains10]

https://eletric-vehicles.com/slate/...ns-to-double-staff-ahead-of-production-start/

Slate Auto is planning to add 392 jobs and invest $10.4 million at its Troy, Michigan headquarters — as the Jeff Bezos-backed startup prepares to begin production of its low-cost electric pickup later this year.

The new engineering, design, and administrative positions would be added over the next five years to bolster the company’s research and development capabilities, Crain’s Detroit Business first reported on Thursday citing sources.

Additionally, the expansion would nearly double Slate‘s Michigan workforce, which currently exceeds 300 employees split between its Troy headquarters and an R&D lab in Orion Township.

Michigan’s state government is offering a $5 million performance-based grant to support the project, which is expected to go before the Michigan Strategic Fund board for consideration on Tuesday.

The new jobs are expected to pay a starting wage of $43 per hour, the sources said.

Hiring Spree Across the Board
The planned Michigan expansion adds to a hiring campaign that has seen Slate recruit senior talent from some of the biggest names in the auto industry in recent weeks.

 

[kvermeer]

Here's their current jobs page if anyone else is interested:

https://recar.wd108.myworkdayjobs.com/SLATEcareers

The article discusses future hiring over the next 5 years for accounting purposes, but they've got a lot of roles available right now. Here's the current list for positions in Troy:

1. Engineering Quality Lead - Body In White and Closures
2. Diagnostic Service Engineer
3. Principal Engineer, Torque Security Calibration
4. Manufacturing Quality Engineer, Problem Solving & Training Expert
5. Director of Vehicle Safety, Homologation, & Regulatory Compliance
6. Senior Buyer - Interior & Safety
7. Manager, Interior Engineering - Seating
8. Senior Design Release Engineer, Chassis Accessories
9. Software/Data Rotational Program
10. Manager, Exterior Roof Systems
11. Manager Exterior Accessories
12. Engineer, Telematics Accessories
13. SR Buyer, BIW
14. Senior Design Release Engineer, Passive Safety Electronics
15. Analyst, Senior Financial
16. Quantitative Product Manager
17. Senior Supplier Quality Engineer (SQE), Chassis
18. Design/Release Engineer-Exterior
19. Senior Accessory Design Release Engineer, Interior
20. Slate Rotational Program, Battery/Electrical Systems
21. Vehicle Engineering Rotational Program
22. Design Release Engineer, Electrical Accessories
23. Design Release Engineer, Interior
24. Sr. BMS Design Release Engineer
25. Sr. DRE Engineer-Seat Complete
26. Engineer, Service Parts
27. Buyer II - Information Technology
28. Senior Design Release Engineer, Cockpit Integration
29. Torque Control Calibrations Engineer, Senior
30. Financial Analyst
31. Quality Assurance Manager
32. Sr. Treasury Analyst
33. Corporate Intercompany Accountant
34. Senior Engineer, Battery Pack Structural CAE
35. Risk Analyst
36. Attribute Integration Engineer, Body and Interior Accessories
37. Attribute Integration Engineer, Electrical Accessories
38. Vehicle Engineering Technician, Prototype
39. Thermal System Engineer
40. Head of Electrical and Software Engineering
41. Assistant Chief Engineer - Accessories
42. Director Technical Accounting

As a senior controls engineer, I'm tempted, but unfortunately it's just the wrong time in my family's stage of life. I don't want to uproot my son and wife. 10 years ago or 10 years from now I'd jump, but I've got a 9yo and almost 30 family members here on the west side of the state.

Also, while I expect I'd typically report to the office in Troy, it would be quite a haul to drive down to Warsaw to do integration and testing. I'd probably need to haul machines, tools, and/or parts if they weren't so big to need to be shipped by freight, so a small pickup would be ideal. And those ~220 miles would burn a lot of costly gas, so I'd want it to be an EV, especially if I could charge on-site at the destination. Hmmm.... maybe a company-supplied vehicle of some sort would be an appropriate signing bonus perk.... hmmm....

 

[ScooterAsheville]

Well, given the firing announcements from the legacies over the last month or two, there is plenty of available talent out there. All the auto industry insiders are predicting a white collar bloodbath as the big OEMs go with AI-enabled workflows.

 

[ElectricShitbox]

The Vehicle Engineering Technician position is right up my alley, but there's no way I'm going to be able to convince my wife to uproot our lives just to move to the other end of Lake Erie, lol.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The Vehicle Engineer Technician position is right up my alley, but there's no way I'm going to be able to convince my wife to uproot our lives just to move to the other end of Lake Erie, lol.

Less snow!

 

[RetiredOnPaper]

I just hope Slate invests in engineers and less in marketers. Slate will need a line of well designed accessories, some examples; A VTL that uses the NICS connector to allow use of the stored power, a true need with modern work trucks. A winch. A section of Slate U that teaches how to charge, travel, and maintain the battery for maximum life. (And honesty from the EV industry about battery degradation over the first 10 years. People freak out when it happens, but if you keep your head, you discover it's mostly no big deal. You find yourself recharging after 3 hours of driving instead of nearly 4 hours.)