Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed plans to open a software engineering centre and create 150 jobs in Shannon, Republic of Ireland, in 2018.

Working alongside Jaguar Land Rover’s engineering team in the UK, the Shannon facility has an important role to play in realising the company’s vision for electric and automated driving vehicles. It will develop new technologies to support electrification and self-driving features on future Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.

Jaguar Land Rover has selected Shannon as it is globally recognised as a centre of excellence for current and future software engineering talent.

As a part of this development, Jaguar Land Rover has agreed a partnership with online education provider Udacity, which specialises in courses such as automated driving, artificial intelligence, robotics and data analytics.

These courses will provide the skills to support Jaguar Land Rover’s engineering capabilities and ongoing technological innovation.

Jaguar Land Rover is working towards a cleaner future and all new vehicle lines will be offered with the option of electrification from 2020, giving customers even more choice. It will introduce a portfolio of electrified products across the model range, embracing fully electric, plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid vehicles. The first fully electric performance SUV, the Jaguar I-PACE, goes on sale in 2018.

Jaguar Land Rover is developing fully- and semi-automated driving technologies to offer customers a choice of an engaged or autonomous drive, while maintaining an enjoyable and safe driving experience. The company’s vision is to make automated driving viable in the widest range of real-life, on- and off-road environments and weather. 

Jaguar Land Rover is looking for software engineers with experience in a range of disciplines such as artificial intelligence, safety critical systems and vehicle architecture. 

Nick Rogers, Executive Director of Product Engineering, said: "Technical innovation lies at the heart of Jaguar Land Rover and our innovation is continuous. The new facility provides an exciting opportunity for us to pioneer future autonomous and electrification technologies. The heart of our business will always be in the UK. The creation of a team in Shannon strengthens our international engineering capabilities and complements our existing team of more than 10,000 engineers based in the UK."