As part of our efforts to attract the best talent in autonomous technology, we’re constantly evolving our recruitment efforts. From creating strategic partnerships with educational institutions to expanding our co-ops, internships, and early career full time opportunities, we’re committed to finding and nurturing the best minds in the autonomous trucking industry.

In order to achieve our world-class recruiting goals, we’ve expanded our early-career tactics beyond the traditional university pathway and into our newest initiative: The Emerging Talent Program, encompassing community colleges, candidates of diverse backgrounds, and more.

About the Emerging Talent Program

This purposeful decision to expand our early career pathways aims to create a broader, more inclusive vision of our autonomous world. At Torc, we’re evolving with the global workforce to create new opportunities for future engineers, AI experts, and freight professionals.

Our new Emerging Talent program is centered around embracing diversity and nurturing the potential of individuals from all backgrounds. Whether you’re looking for early career opportunities in engineering or fleet operations, we’re encouraging our company to embrace all levels of talent, driving innovation and growth within our self-driving development teams. As we move towards this comprehensive approach, we’re building our methods on the following pillars:

• Non-Traditional Pathways. “Emerging Talent” encompasses individuals from diverse educational backgrounds, including but not limited to community colleges, HBCUs, HSIs, MSIs, and more. coding bootcamps, vocational schools, and apprenticeships.
• Partnerships and Engagement. This program allows us to engage with talent at the K-12 level, allowing us to showcase future career opportunities to our community.
• Recognizing Diverse Age Groups. Not all students follow the traditional path of entering and graduating from their educational path in their early twenties; our plan encompasses those who might be shifting careers, returning to the workforce after caring for family members, or entering a brand-new field of study.
• Focusing on Potential, Not Pedigree. We put emphasis on talent and skills over educational background. At Torc, your dedication to your work and experience is what helps carry our self-driving technology forward.
• Development Focus. We’re focused on nurturing and developing our team’s talent through their early career stages and beyond, allowing each individual to unlock their true potential at Torc.

Beyond Theory, Into Execution with KIT

One of our first forays into this new initiative includes our partnership with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). As part of our collaboration with KIT, we’ve created a robust talent pipeline that encompasses both students and full-time employees. Through this partnership, we’re able to engage with top-tier talent from KIT’s innovative global community.

Simon Schaefer – From KIT to Torc Robotics
Simon Schaefer exemplifies the success of Torc’s Emerging Talent strategy. As a former student at KIT, Simon was a member of the Formula Student team “KA-RaceIng”, where he and his team built an autonomous race car. Thanks to Daimler Truck and later Torc sponsoring and supporting this team, Simon discovered Torc as an attractive employer and successfully applied for a job. Since then, he has transitioned seamlessly into his role at Torc where he works on the Vehicle Intent team. Simon has become a model employee and ambassador for our self-driving technology, complete with the hands-on experience in engineering and teamwork that KIT fostered in him. As an ambassador, Simon continues to foster the relationship between Torc and KIT, helping to attract and mentor the next generation of engineers.

Setu Namburu – Nurturing Early Career Talent

As a Manager of Applied Data Science at Torc, Setu is a key part of developing and delivering data-driven solutions for our self-driving technology. Using her extensive skills and background, she’s successfully converted five data science/analytics internship students into full-time employees during her time at Torc, showcasing her dedication to nurturing early career talent. Her leadership has been instrumental to Torc’s shift into this new program. Through her ability to guide, mentor, and advocate for early career professionals, Setu sets an incredible standard for our recruiting future.

Christin Scheib – From Europe to Blacksburg

Originally a student at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and a Torc co-op, Christin has successfully transitioned to a full-time engineering role, moving from Europe to Torc’s HQ in Blacksburg, Virginia in the process. Since starting her work in automated truck technology, Christin’s efforts have allowed our hardware and software components to come together seamlessly, showcasing the potential that students can offer when converted to full-time employees.

Brent Papenfuse – Transforming Student Excellence to New Heights

Brent has been a key part of revolutionizing what recruitment means at Torc. In his capacity as Program Manager, Brent not only develops certification programs and maintenance procedures for our autonomous trucking solution, but spearheads hiring initiatives from technology schools and community colleges. He has also partnered with the Emerging Talent community program to influence company roles in diesel mechanics, fostering a new generation of professionals that is both technology-forward and rooted in traditional mechanics.

Alexia Tran – Propelling Achievement Across Borders

Alexia started her Torc journey as a research and development intern at Torc’s Montreal offices, where she developed state-of-the-art test benches, reverse engineered CAN bus messages, and more. After demonstrating her outstanding skills in everything autonomous engineering, Alexia was hired on as a full-time Systems Engineer. Alexia is a proud example of Torc’s community of globe-trotting professionals, having moved from Montreal to Torc’s Stuttgart, Germany offices in the name of developing our self-driving solution.

RELATED: Visit the Emerging Talent LinkedIn Page

The Future of Emerging Talent at Torc Robotics

Looking ahead, we’re envisioning that our new initiative will be a key driver of our growth strategy. Talent pipelines and software engineering internships like the ones we’ve developed with KIT will continue to be a crucial component, ensuring a steady stream of top-tier talent from across the globe. Alongside this strategy, we’re focusing on inclusivity, adaptability, and skills-based hiring across the board. We’re dedicated to attract and retain the best talent that the self-driving engineering world has to offer, driving our technology and our company forward in a competitive and dynamic industry.