Jaguar Land Rover: You're Hired! Gorillaz App Code-Cracker Lands a Job

GAYDON, England, Sept. 4, 2017 /CNW/ -

• Global recruitment campaign proves successful as Jaguar Land Rover hires first engineer
• Jaguar Land Rover has interviewed over 50 code-crackers to date and offered positions to 13 people in total.
• Coding challenge remains open as Jaguar Land Rover continues global search for the next generation of electronic and software engineers
• Pop-up Gorillaz garage to appear at Jaguar Land Rover's inaugural Tech Fest event in London
• Fans can visit guitarist Noodle's garage to take part in a live technical challenge
• 'Technology with Heart'-themed Tech Fest explores the positive role technology is playing in reshaping the automotive industry and beyond
• Festival open from 8-10 September at Central Saint Martins art, design and technology college in London: find out more at http://www.jaguarlandrover.com
• Click here for film

Jaguar Land Rover has hired the first of the next generation of electronics and software engineering geniuses following the recent code-breaking recruitment challenge within the Gorillaz app.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/551719/Daniel_Dunkley_Gorillaz_Noodle.jpg )

Daniel Dunkley, a 23-year-old from Gloucester, UK, is the first successful code-breaker to join Jaguar Land Rover. Daniel left school at 16 and was working as a controls engineer at a local quarry. His coding and software skills are completely self-taught from an early interest in playing computer games at home with his older brother. He starts work on 2 October as a software engineer at Jaguar Land Rover in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

Gorillaz and Jaguar Land Rover will continue the search for world-class talent at Jaguar Land Rover's inaugural Tech Fest event, from 8-10 September at London's Central Saint Martins art, design and technology college.

Fans interested in a job at Jaguar Land Rover can visit a pop-up Gorillaz garage to try a puzzle testing technical ability, logical thinking and memory. Want to see if you've got what it takes? Solve the puzzle and you'll skip the initial screening of the Jaguar Land Rover recruitment process.

If you can't make it to Tech Fest, complete the coding challenge on the Gorillaz app and go straight to interview. The code-breaking puzzle tests real-world skills the new generation of software and engineering talent must have. The challenge remains open worldwide.

Noodle, the virtual band's guitarist and a Jaguar Land Rover ambassador, said: "Think big and do better, my motto. Stop putting those filters on your food and download this app immediately. The first hire has happened, so get involved and win!"

Daniel Dunkley said: "I'm overwhelmed by how much has happened in the last two months. I read about the coding challenge set by Jaguar Land Rover and Gorillaz on BBC News and decided to have a go. We did the interview by Google Chat then I was invited to Gaydon to talk about my new job. It completely blew me away that I didn't have to fill out any application forms.

"I was thrilled when they offered me a job! My dad drives a Land Rover Defender so I have always been a fan. I can't believe I may now get to work on the next generation Defender!"

So far, almost 400,000 people have downloaded the Gorillaz app. Of the 41,000 who have taken the challenge, over 500 have cracked the code.

Alex Heslop, Head of Electrical Engineering, Jaguar Land Rover, said: "Daniel is exactly the kind of person we need. Technology companies like Jaguar Land Rover provide an exciting opportunity for the brightest and best. We want to attract top-notch talent in software, cyber systems, app development and graphics.

"We've interviewed over 50 people to date of the 500 that cracked the code and we have recruited 13 people so far. We are continuing to interview those who crack the code that are interested in a job at Jaguar Land Rover. The global search for talent continues. 

"We don't do ordinary and that means hiring extraordinary people. Jaguar Land Rover makes some of the world's most exciting cars and it needs brilliant people to create them."

In the spirit of collaborative innovation, Jaguar Land Rover has invited an array of speakers to take part in a series of debates and talks throughout Tech Fest, attended by an audience of global influencers and journalists from four continents. Topics will include the future of diesel, electrification, women in industry and robotics, debated by a range of global industry and consumer experts from around the world. To learn more and see the full speaker line-up, visit http://www.jaguarlandrover.com

The search for young talent goes on. Interested applicants can download the Gorillaz app now at the iTunes App Store (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gorillaz/id1217997478?mt=8) or Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Parlophone.Gorillaz&hl=en.  

To find out more about Jaguar Land Rover recruitment, click here: http://www.jaguarlandrovercareers.com. For specific roles in electrification see:  http://www.jaguarlandrovercareers.com/jlr-roles/product-creation/electrification/

Traditional application methods remain open and CVs will be accepted, but Jaguar Land Rover invites potential applicants to download the app, break the codes and solve the problems to fast-track their way into employment.

Notes to editors 

Watch the app recruitment film here

About Tech Fest 2017: Technology with Heart 

'Technology with Heart' is the theme of Jaguar Land Rover's inaugural Tech Fest, an event that explores the positive role technology is playing in reshaping the automotive industry and beyond.

The free-to-enter festival takes place at the internationally recognised Central Saint Martins art, design and technology college in London. It is open to the general public from Friday 8 September to Sunday 10 September.

The event will be packed full of innovative exhibits and interactive displays that demonstrate how technology is being used to make a positive difference. Attendees can fast forward into the future and take a glimpse into a world where cars drive themselves and vehicles are shared, not owned.

Join the conversation using #JLRTechFest 

About Jaguar Land Rover
Jaguar Land Rover is the UK's largest automotive manufacturer, built around two iconic British car brands: Land Rover, the world's leading manufacturer of premium all-wheel-drive vehicles; and Jaguar, one of the world's premier luxury sports saloon and sports car marques.

We employ almost 42,000 people globally and support around 240,000 more through our dealerships, suppliers and local businesses. Manufacturing is centred in the UK, with additional plants in China, Brazil, India and Slovakia.

At Jaguar Land Rover we are driven by a desire to create class-leading products that deliver great customer experiences. The largest investor in R&D in the UK manufacturing sector, we have invested £16 billion in the last seven years and in the current year alone will spend over £4 billion on new product creation and capital expenditure. In 2016 Jaguar Land Rover sold more than 583,000 vehicles in 136 countries, with more than 80 per cent of our vehicles produced in the UK being sold abroad.

About Gorillaz
Gorillaz is singer 2D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, guitarist Noodle and drummer Russel Hobbs. Created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, their acclaimed eponymous debut album was released in 2001. The BRIT and Grammy Award-winning band's subsequent albums are Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010) and The Fall (2011). A truly global phenomenon, Gorillaz have topped charts around the world and toured the globe from San Diego to Syria, picking up hundreds of millions of streams and record sales along the way. Gorillaz have achieved success in entirely ground-breaking ways, winning numerous awards including the coveted Jim Henson Creativity Honor and are recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the planet's Most Successful Virtual Act. New album Humanz was released to widespread critical acclaim last month, reaching #1 and #2 in the US and UK album charts respectively, and topping the iTunes chart in 60-plus countries.

As official brand ambassador for the Panasonic Jaguar Racing Formula E team, Noodle is at the forefront of its campaign to address the skills gap that engineering worldwide is facing.  

About the Gorillaz app
A mixed reality app launched in April, the Gorillaz app invites the viewer into the weird and wonderful universe of the world's most successful virtual band, for the very first time. Pushing the boundaries of technology, the app allows fans to immerse themselves in the world of Gorillaz and join Murdoc, 2D, Russel and Noodle at home in the Gorillaz House. Developed by Gorillaz and B-Reel with support from Deutsche Telekom, the fully immersive mixed-reality app is a unique blend of real world, AR, VR and 360 environments, using the technology in a narrative context for the very first time.

To celebrate the release of the new album Humanz, fans were invited - via the app - to the Humanz House Party, an exclusive worldwide listening event which allowed fans to hear the new album as part of the largest ever geo specific listening experience, bringing people together across 500 locations, from Tokyo to Santiago.

For more information, please visit http://www.newsroom.jaguarlandrover.com

SOURCE Jaguar Land Rover