Last week, Navico caught up with their CTO, Jarred Clayton, to hear about the fantastic opportunities to work as part of Navico’s R&D Hub in Gothenburg, one of Europe’s hidden gems.
According to their mission statement, Navico lead marine electronics with outstanding solutions for performance, safety and enjoyment on the water.
Their focus is to make boatings safer, easier and more rewarding and has resulted in the release of a number of world leading products.
Thanks Jarred for taking the time! Why is it such an exciting time for the team working out of Navico’s R&D Hub in Gothenburg?
We are growing our global software group by around 40% and a big focus within that is growing the fantastic team we have in Gothenburg.
But why Gothenburg? Well, Sweden is renowned across Europe when it comes to innovation and software. As a city, it’s also rivalling Stockholm as the most desirable place to work in Sweden. Our Gothenburg team has instilled a collaborative and innovative culture that is one of those environments that engineers love to be in. Therefore, we want to grow it.
Looking more broadly, Navico’s future looks bright as we sit under the umbrella of Brunswick Corporation, the largest recreational marine company in the world. This will mean endless opportunities for Navico, particularly when it comes to R&D and developing the next generation of marine navigation technology. There has never been a better time to join us!
Gothenburg is a somewhat hidden but beautiful Scandinavian city in Sweden. What’s it like to live and work here?
As mentioned, the Gothenburg region is the innovation engine of Sweden. It’s also beautiful: green space and a stunning coastline are never far away.
In Gothenburg itself you’ll find a vibrant cultural scene, world-class restaurants, sustainable living and a fascinating history. Gothenburg is a green city not just because of its sustainable way of life. Green spaces are plentiful.
It is a big enough city to have its own name in English (Gothenburg compared to Göteborg) but small enough to be able to bicycle across the city.
The closeness to the ocean, and the charm that has sprung out of its marine engineering history and industrial roots make it a brilliant place to live and work.
How is the Gothenburg Team at the very heart of Navico’s R&D efforts to continue to develop world-class products?
Navico is working on building a smarter and more integrated boat experience for our customers. The team in Gothenburg is at the heart of this focus with a specific skillset in the boat ecosystem, control, and integration to provide an ‘assistant-like’ experience.
The Gothenburg team has also strongly contributed to our IP patent portfolio. The team has brought fantastic new ideas to our internal hackathon event and the 6th sprint innovation time. They are massively valued within our global R&D Team.
What learning and development opportunities can a Navico employee expect working out of Gothenburg?
Developing our people for the challenges of tomorrow is fundamental to our success. Becoming a part of Brunswick Corporation, a team of over 16,000 people all over the world, this remains as important as ever.
Being a global company, we also support our people to move around different locations across the world. We have people moving temporarily and permanent to and from Europe, Auckland etc.
Software is the biggest focus for the Gothenburg team, but you are working within a global R&D group that has all the functions needed to build any new product that can be imagined to meet our customers’ needs. You will get exposed to and learn what it takes working within a cross-functional wider group, to bring new products to market.
Navico has some of the most advance technology in the world to help our customers on the water from Radar, Sonar, Autopilot, navigation and so much more!
What’s the culture like within the R&D team and what exactly can I expect?
It is an awesome engineering community where we are challenging ourselves to continuously improve our products, our ways of working, and fast-track our personal development. We are constantly pushing to innovate and develop leading products. Around 20% of revenue comes from products launched in the last 12 months, so we keep moving fast.
The marine domain is a lot of fun and surprisingly diverse, including fishing, sailing, solo round the world sailing, cruising, kayaking and more. We are all very passionate about sustainability of our products and the environment they are in.
Our culture is one of collaboration, transparency and trust throughout the R&D team and beyond. It’s a hands-on culture at Navico where everybody contributes, and everybody helps.
Why is Gothenburg’s Software Team so important to Navico’s R&D efforts right now?
The Gothenburg team is focused on building a smart and more integrated boat. This is what customers expect today in other domains (such as automotive) and marine must follow. We want to be the leaders in this space and the team is working hard to create a seamless more integrated experience for our customers.
Sweden is a fantastic engineering environment that we are tapping into with great automotive companies and a thriving marine environment with some well-known global boat builders. If you are interested and have what it takes, come and join us!
To learn more about Navico, visit their website.
