Part of the WTIA’s mission is to grow a strong and sustainable workforce, which means we’re passionate about keeping local talent plugged into our state’s technology industry. In addition to our job board, every Wednesday we’ll be keeping you connected to Washington’s job market with the latest in local hiring news.
Uber Opening Seattle Engineering Office, Led by Isilon Vet Tim Prouty
GeekWire | Todd Bishop | Mar. 3
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/uber-opening-seattle-engineering-office-led-by-isilon-vet-tim-prouty/
“It’s confirmed: On-demand transportation company Uber is opening a Seattle engineering office, with plans to hire as many as 50 people or more this year. The office will be started up by Tim Prouty, a University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering alum who was most recently a director of engineering at EMC’s Isilon Storage Division, reporting to Paul Mikesell, an Uber infrastructure engineering director and another UW alum, according to a post this morning on the UW CSE News site. ‘At Uber one of my primary goals will be to grow the team very rapidly from 0 to 50+ people this year, so we’ll be working hard to make a splash in the Seattle technology community over the next few months,’ the post quotes Prouty as saying.”
Latest local job posting for Uber
Tempered Networks Raises $15 Million to Protect Critical Infrastructure from Cyber Attacks
Puget Sound Business Journal | Jacob Demmitt | Mar. 3
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/03/tempered-networks-raises-15-million-to-protect.html?ana=e_tf&s=newsletter&ed=2015-03-03&u=ilbLUrKrU2/jjJJmX4zKbA08463807&t=1425491418
“Seattle-based Tempered Networks announced a $15 million fundraising round on Tuesday as it continues its meteoric rise that started when a group of cyber security experts spun out of Boeing in 2012. The company had a team of four employees in August of last year, 15 workers by November and has 30 now. By the end of 2015, it expects to grow to about 50 employees. Tempered Networks builds cyber security products that help block hackers from attacking critical infrastructure, like gas, water and electricity systems. Increasingly, these kinds of plants are made up of thousands of pieces of internet-connected equipment. Each of these end points is one more way for hacker to get in.”
Latest job postings for Tempered Networks
Big Data Gets Huge in Washington: Study Says State 2nd in Big Data-Related Jobs
GeekWire | John Cook | Mar. 2
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/big-data-gets-huge-in-washington-study-says-state-ranks-2nd-in-big-data-related-jobs/
“How big is the field of big data in Washington state? Pretty huge. An estimated 38,170 people work in big data related jobs, making up 1.4 percent of the total workforce in the state…‘It is an exploding space,’ said Ewan Duncan, who compiled the research on behalf of the Technology Alliance and serves as Seattle director for McKinsey & Company. ‘We are well positioned, but I think there is a lot more upside.’ That upside is seen in the number of open job positions in the Seattle area related to big data roles, higher than many other cities on a per capita basis. Even so, as the chart below shows, the number of graduates in Washington state with skills that could be applied in the field of big data are relatively low similar to a finding released in a report last week by the WTIA and consistent with the Technology Alliance’s repeated calls for more spending on education in the state… ‘Seattle ranks highly in computer science overall, and I think that translates into big data,’ said Duncan, adding that many of the large Silicon Valley tech companies are setting up shop in the region because of this talent.”
To view the data charts, click here
Former Dendreon CEO, Amgen Scientists Team up on New Immunotherapy Startup
Puget Sound Business Journal | Annie Zak | Mar. 2
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/03/former-dendreon-ceo-amgen-scientists-team-up-on.html
“Former Dendreon Corp. CEO Mitchell Gold isn’t leaving the biotech world anytime soon despite that company’s recent bankruptcy and sale to Quebec-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Instead, he decided to form a new immunotherapy biotech company that will target cancer and autoimmune diseases. He’s doing it with the help of scientists from the departing biotech Amgen, which will shutter its operations in Washington state by the end of 2015. Alpine Immune Sciences Inc., founded in January, is still in early days and has only four employees. The company has corporate offices in downtown Seattle and lab space in Fremont. Alpine raised $1.3 million in seed funding from Gold’s biotech hedge fund Alpine BioVentures in February…The company will be hiring this year, though Gold wouldn’t mention specifics.”
Latest local job postings are pending for Alpine Immune Sciences Inc.
Seattle 3D Laser Printer Startup Glowforge Raises $1.3M in Funding
GeekWire | Frank Catalano | Feb. 27
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/seattle-3d-laser-printer-startup-glowforge-raises-1-3m-in-funding/
“Glowforge, a once secretive hardware-and-software company founded by startup veteran Dan Shapiro, has raised $1.265 million to build what it calls ‘the first 3D laser printer’…What’s Glowforge making in its SoDo HQ? It’s a ‘cloud-based consumer desktop laser cutter,’ what Shapiro has described as ‘the great-great-grandfather of the Star Trek replicator.’ The price is anticipated to be around $2,000. While that’s not exactly Robot Turtles-consumer level pricing, it is said to be much cheaper than what’s now on the market, and will come with easy-to-operate software. Laser cutters are already popular tools at, among other places, makerspaces. Shapiro says the proceeds of the offering will be used to hire ‘some incredible engineers, which is our biggest area of investment going forward.’”
Latest local job postings for Glowforge
NanoString Goes on Hiring Spree as Revenue Jumps 52 Percent
Puget Sound Business Journal | Annie Zak | Feb. 26
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/02/nanostring-goes-on-hiring-spree-as-revenue-jumps.html
“Seattle biotech NanoString made huge gains in both revenue and staff last year, which CEO Brad Gray said is a result of the company focusing on cancer diagnostics and broadening commercial efforts. NanoString reported a 52 percent year-over-year revenue growth in its 2014 earnings report this week. Losses grew 41 percent, due in part to a recent hiring spree. The company grew by about 100 employees in 2014, bringing its head count to about 270, and is also expanding into new office space. Year-over-year earnings bested analyst expectations by about $500,000…Gray said the company’s growth in 2014 is thanks to the IPO and expanding its commercial efforts. ‘We’re reaching customers we’ve never reached in the past,’ he said. Despite the losses, the company is still garnering positive analyst ratings. A J.P. Morgan analyst report said the investment bank expects NanoString to outgrow similar companies and set its December 2015 price target at $18 a share, up from $10 today.”
Latest local job postings for NanoString
PopCap Cofounder John Vechey Forms New Virtual Reality Startup Pluto VR
VentureBeat | Dean Takahashi | Feb. 26
http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/26/popcap-cofounder-john-vechey-forms-new-virtual-reality-startup-pluto-vr/
“John Vechey, the cofounder of Bejeweled maker PopCap Games, has the virtual reality bug. Like many game developers, Vechey has it so bad that he has created a new startup, Pluto VR, to take advantage of the opportunity that the resurgence of VR has created. But Seattle-based Pluto VR isn’t yet focused on making games. Rather, it will focus on the software needed to make VR and augmented reality environments more social and connected….In a press release that he crafted himself, Vechey wrote, ‘We live in an increasingly connected world. With video-conferencing, social media, and online gaming, we can communicate and play with others like never before. However, talking into a phone, sharing a video, or looking at a webcam aren’t natural ways of communicating and don’t come close to what it is like to sit across the table from someone and share an experience.’ He added, ‘With augmented and virtual reality technology, it is now possible to feel a sense of presence with other people, allowing you to communicate, collaborate, and connect from anywhere in the world, as if you were in person. This is what Pluto VR is building.’…Vechey said the team is hiring.”
Latest local job postings for Pluto VR
CC image courtesy of Flazingo Photos on Flickr
The post Who’s Hiring Wednesday: March 4, 2015 appeared first on WTIA.