Behind every great company is a team of skilled and motivated employees who make it happen. And behind the talented team at Baraja is Reshmi Buthello, VP of People of Culture.

Reshmi joined Baraja four years ago, attracted by the impact she could make on people’s lives, and has since helped build an inclusive and intentional company culture that spans across its global offices. Reshmi has nearly 20 years of experience recruiting top talent and ensuring those employees feel supported, engaged, and clear on their growth goals.

To help answer some of the most pressing questions from our potential candidates, we sat down with Reshmi to see what working at Baraja is really like. So, if you’re thinking of joining Baraja in its mission to enable autonomous driving and improve vehicle safety, read on and see if Baraja is the right fit for you.

What type of work can I expect to do?

“At Baraja, we are working on building the first viable automotive-grade LiDAR to enable safer autonomous driving. However, it’s so much more than that. Each year, nearly 1.3 million people die worldwide from traffic-related accidents. Our technology will help to dramatically decrease that number by creating a sensor that is more accurate than the human eye. When you work on our technology, you’ll do more than bring a revolutionary product to market; you’ll play a critical part in saving lives.”

How is the work-life balance?

“At Baraja, we live with a pioneering mentality. We look for highly-motivated team members who like to give their all in everything they do both in the office and out. Many of our employees spend their day solving some of the most complex problems facing the automotive industry, then clock out to compete in sports, boulder and rock climb, train for marathons, spend time with their families, or even tinker on their own inventions! We celebrate our employee’s wins both inside and outside the office and believe you don’t have to sacrifice one area of your life for the other.”

Is there flexibility?

“Given the nature of our work there is a lot of hands-on collaboration. We are in the process of building a physical product, so most of us are not completely remote however, we are flexible.

We trust our employees because we know they are just as motivated as us to bring the world’s first viable automotive LiDAR to market. We also recognize that time zones can get tricky when your team is spread across our offices in Sydney, California, Detroit, and Germany. So, if you’re taking early morning calls, take a long break or log off early."

What kind of people would I work with?

"One of the biggest perks of working at a place like Baraja is that you are surrounded by extremely smart and talented people. We are working together to build something that has never successfully been done before - and that requires some special minds. Expect to share ideas and information with experts in a variety of very niche fields. We also have three different components to our business - research, engineering, and manufacturing - and we’re all at the same level with our hands on the product, so you’ll gain exposure to all the different elements of an automotive tech start-up.”

What is your favorite part of working at Baraja?

“Working at a place like Baraja, you are never bored. It is hard work, and you will be challenged, but you will also get a chance to learn, grow, and push yourself in ways you never imagined. I am not the same person that I was four years ago before I joined Baraja. Plus, you get to work side-by-side with some of the most incredible talent, from the leaders to the front line, to create a solution that will completely disrupt the automotive industry and how we view transportation. That’s a pretty cool thing to say.”

Visit our careers page if this sounds like the place for you!