Robotics Engineer

Our client is one of the fastest-growing defence technology companies in Europe, creating the software, hardware and networking that make unmanned systems effective on the modern battlefield, all ideated, designed and manufactured end-to-end in the UK, and in active use today.

A deliberately low-profile team, small in headcount and outsized in effect, is looking for people who are not just talented but genuinely committed to the work, the team, and the purpose behind it.

This role sits at the centre of the platform's capability development, working directly with the users to understand what they need and then building it. You'll own the full arc: hardware integration, software development, flight validation. In the short term, there's hands-on flight testing involved, and most engineers here would tell you that's one of the better parts of the job. Over time, as the team grows, you'll have more say over where you focus. The flying will happen either way.

• Own the development of new platform capabilities end to end, from requirement through to field validation.
• Integrate hardware including sensors, camera systems, and communications equipment into the platform.
• Develop software across perception, navigation, and communications, with real accountability for what ships.
• Work on robotic navigation challenges including SLAM and localisation in GPS-constrained environments.
• Take part in flight testing and validation, outdoors, with the platform you've been building.
• Work directly with users; their feedback is your brief.
• Contribute to the long-term autonomy and sensing roadmap for the platform.

• Minimum: Solid, applied experience in robotics engineering, not just academic familiarity.
• Hands-on work with robotic navigation, SLAM, or computer vision in a real system.
• Comfortable working across hardware and software, the full stack of a physical system.
• Python proficiency; experience with ROS or similar frameworks a strong plus.
• Ability to work across Electronics/Mechatronics/Software.
• Eligible for UK security clearance (SC): UK citizen or 5+ years UK residency.

• Experience with UAV, UAS, or autonomous aerospace systems.
• Familiarity with PX4 or ArduPilot.
• Computer Vision background.
• Experience with LAN, RF, comms systems integration.
• Track record of taking a capability from prototype to something that actually gets used.
• Comfortable in a role where the scope is real and the priorities occasionally shift with a phone call.

The job is demanding enough, so they try to take the everyday pressures off your plate. The benefits are built around that, starting with a genuine stake in what they are building.

• Share options vesting over three years, so you own a real piece of it.
• Private health care, fully funded from day one.
• 6% employer pension contribution.
• 25 days leave plus bank holidays, and properly enhanced cover for both parents.
• Enterprise level AI tooling, with as many tokens as you need to accelerate your work.
• Relocation support if you are moving to join, or a home office budget if you work remotely.