Huawei posts job in Kitchener as it looks to 'double' Ontario workforce
Chinese telecom giant Huawei is looking to almost double its Ontario workforce over the next five years, and it appears to be taking an initial step into Waterloo Region.
The company posted a job ad for a permanent research director based in Kitchener, and is looking for someone with a minimum of 10 years of telecommunications security research experience.
The successful candidate's responsibilities would include exploring, investigating and analyzing "emerging technology in the mobile security space, specifically in the areas of containers, root detection and protocol optimization in a constrained environment," the posting says.
He or she would also be expected to "evangelize Huawei security posture within the media, customer and analyst domains" and "work with marketing to develop brand and messaging for mobile security at Huawei."
'It's a bit premature to provide specific details'
However, the company won't say whether the posting is the start of a larger expansion into Kitchener or not.
"We are careful not to get ahead of ourselves in terms of exactly what we are going to do in the province, but obviously...the Kitchener-Waterloo region is one of the technology hubs of Canada and North America," said Scott Bradley, the vice president of corporate and government affairs for Huawei Canada.
"Certainly when we're looking at attracting talent to join Huawei, we're going to be pursing that talent in the markets where we think we have an opportunity to have people come and join the company."
Bradley wouldn't say when he expects the position to be filled, or where in Kitchener the selected candidate would work. Instead he characterized the hiring process as "exploratory."
"At this point I think it's a bit premature to provide specific details," he said.
Huawei Canada currently employs about 250 in Ontario, mostly in research in Ottawa, says Bradley.
"We have made a commitment to increase, or basically double our research capacities to about 500 people in the province of Ontario over the course of the next five years," said Bradley.
In November last year, Huawei Canada announced it would invest an additional $210 million in Ontario and create 350 new jobs.
The company has a research centre in Ottawa, working on telecommunications innovations.
"it's been very successful, particularly in areas of 5G research," said Bradley.
