Robot Dexterity Translation Lead in London

Salary Levels: £90,000, £105,000 (offers will be calibrated on interview assessment and benchmarked experience levels)

Location: Kings X, London; Tues - Thurs (3 days) at HQ, Monday + Friday, anywhere

Employment Type: Full-time, aligned with ARIA’s active commitment to the Robot Dexterity Programme; we are open to discussing an arrangement of 4 days per week, minimum

Contract: Two-years fixed-term (with the possibility for extension)

Closing Date: Sunday 11 October 23:59

About ARIA

ARIA empowers scientists to pursue breakthroughs at the edge of the possible. From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed through science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK’s world-class R&D in new ways, so we can meet these head on. Our success is shaped by one question: how will ARIA transform the lives of the UK’s future generations? Whether that is a life-changing new technology or a burgeoning new industry, it should be obvious that ARIA played a catalytic role. If you want to help make breakthroughs like these possible, come and build ARIA with us.

Role Summary

ARIA’s Robot Dexterity programme aims to transform robotic capabilities and unlock a step change in human productivity by addressing the bottlenecks that prevent robots from becoming much more capable and useful. It funds teams (known at ARIA as Creators) working across robot hardware and advanced simulation, including novel hardware, socioeconomic considerations, modularity, interoperability and common standards. If successful, more dexterous robots could perform difficult or dangerous physical tasks and help address growing labour shortages. With a portfolio of Creators established across startups, academia, and industry, the programme is entering its next phase focused on translation: turning the strongest research into integrated products adapted for real-world setting to generate lasting UK economic value. As this programme’s Translation Lead, you will lead this effort – shaping the paths to translation, catalysing commercial outcomes, and building an ambitious ecosystem for dexterous robotics – to create massive social and economic value for the UK and beyond.

What you'll do

• Shape the path to commercialisation: Lead the programme’s translation strategy, establishing priority commercialisation opportunities, development stages, decision milestones, resourcing choices and measures of progress.
• Build a view of the portfolio, ensuring each priority Creator team has a stage-appropriate evidence plan covering its target application, customers, critical uncertainties, dependencies and next funding decision.
• Recommend how ARIA should allocate translation resources and whether to continue, reshape, redirect or stop work as evidence develops, using the lessons to improve programme strategy and wider ARIA practice.

• Catalyse economic value: Work with Creator teams and the programme’s translation Expert-In-Residence to turn promising R&D into credible commercial opportunities.
• Design and run portfolio-wide translation mechanisms — including rolling Dexterity Demos, milestone-led commercialisation support, shared robotics infrastructure, testbeds and benchmarking — with clear objectives, evidence requirements and decision criteria.
• Bring customers and industry partners into the development process, converting interest into validated requirements and commitments (e.g. access to operating environments or paid trials).

• Build an ambitious ecosystem: Remove barriers that individual teams cannot solve alone, building the partnerships, shared infrastructure and specialist support needed for systems integration, testing, manufacturing and commercialisation.
• Connecting teams with the new talent and capital required for the next phase of their translation journey.

Who you are

No specific degree, job title or conventional robotics career is required. You may have developed these capabilities as a founder, product or commercial leader, systems integrator, industrial operator or customer, investor, venture builder or research translation lead. What matters is evidence of what you have made happen.

Essential Criteria

• You can judge an emerging technology’s commercial potential: the valuable problem, credible customers, viable proposition and route to commercialisation, and the evidence needed for the next decision.
• You have helped move a technically complex physical product or capability beyond research or prototype stage into customer validation, operational deployment, revenue or scale.
• You can engage deeply enough with researchers and engineers to test assumptions and translate technical choices into product, commercial and operational consequences.
• You can build partnerships across organisations with different expertise, incentives and timescales, turning shared interest into agreed roles, resources and action.
• You can lead delivery across a complex portfolio or set of technology bets, using evidence-based milestones to focus resources and make clear recommendations about when to continue, reshape or stop work.

Desirable Criteria

• Direct experience in robotics, advanced hardware or a related industrial technology ecosystem would help you get up to speed quickly, particularly if you understand its customers, commercial models or routes to market.
• Experience in one or more of venture formation, follow-on investment, complex procurement, manufacturing scale-up or commercialising research-based intellectual property.

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave provision, with the option to buy/sell additional days
• Hybrid working arrangements; 60% in office / 40% at home
• Supportive environment for learning and development opportunities
• Enhanced family leave arrangements
• A free and confidential 24/7 employee assistance programme
• 2 days of paid volunteer days
• 5% defined contribution pension scheme with Smart Pension
• Cycle to Work scheme
• An excellent office location in Kings X, London

Not sure you meet 100% of our criteria? Don’t worry. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We want to attract the broadest array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. Whether you’re new to this, returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition, or taking the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar. Please use your cover letter to tell us about your interests and what you hope to bring to this role.

If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please notify us and we will make every effort to accommodate you. Disclosing any requests are intended to provide ARIA with the best opportunity to support candidates and will have no negative impact on your recruitment process.

Please note; You will be required, as and when necessary, to travel to different locations around the UK and internationally.

ARIA adopts a highly considered approach to ethical and social responsibility.