Software Test & Verification Engineer in Bradford

Do you want to work with the 15th fastest-growing startup in Europe? If so, you’re in the right place. AssetCool is one of Europe’s fastest-growing startups, building the fastest path to more power on the grid. We’re tackling one of the most urgent challenges in the global energy transition: grid congestion. Electricity demand is rising fast; driven by electrification, AI and data centres. While traditional grid upgrades take years, demand exists today. The grid isn’t ready.

AssetCool delivers robotic grid upgrades that physically increase the capacity of existing transmission lines by up to 30%, without rebuilding infrastructure. Using advanced robotics and proprietary photonic coatings, we unlock data-centre-scale capacity in weeks to months, not years and at a fraction of the cost and disruption of conventional approaches. Our technology goes beyond capacity. We reduce losses, prevent corrosion, cut corona noise and generate high-value operational data that supports smarter grid operation and maintenance. Our systems are already deployed globally, and we just raised a big funding round from leading energy and climate investors. AssetCool is one of the most innovation-driven companies in the UK energy sector and we’re scaling fast! If you’re ambitious, mission-driven and excited to work on real deployments that strengthen the industry that really matters, AssetCool is where you can make it happen.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Software Test & Verification Engineer to join our software team and take ownership of the test strategy, verification approach, and automated testing infrastructure across our robotic system software stack. You will help ensure that the software we deploy to power lines is safe, reliable, repeatable, and field-ready. This includes testing across Linux-based robotic control systems, networking and communications, sensor pipelines, and system integration. You will also work closely with embedded firmware engineers to provide testing support where necessary.

This is a hands-on role working closely with software and systems engineers. You’ll build test tooling, establish robust test processes, and help move the team toward scalable verification practices - supporting both rapid iteration and high confidence in release quality. As our systems increasingly include operator-facing control applications and dashboards, you will also help enable automated UI testing and end-to-end workflow validation, ensuring that critical user experiences are reliable and regression-tested as the product evolves.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and maintain test plans and verification strategies for embedded and robotic software systems.
• Develop automated testing frameworks across unit, integration, and system-level tests.
• Maintain clear documentation for test coverage, test environments, and verification procedures.
• Establish and maintain requirements-to-test traceability, producing structured verification artefacts suitable for audits, safety reviews, and release sign-off.
• Build and maintain hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing setups.
• Create and run repeatable regression test suites for the company’s robotic software stack.
• Write and maintain test harnesses, simulation tools, stubs/mocks, and diagnostic utilities.
• Validate interfaces across CAN, UART/Serial, Ethernet, and wireless links.
• Contribute to automated testing of operator-facing applications, helping ensure core UI workflows are reliable and regression-tested.
• Support verification of machine learning subsystems by contributing to repeatable evaluation, regression testing, and release readiness checks.
• Support software release readiness by producing clear verification evidence and structured test reports.
• Investigate field failures by analysing logs, telemetry, and system behaviour to identify root causes.
• Collaborate with engineers to improve testability, observability, and fault handling in production software.
• Contribute to continuous integration pipelines for automated builds, static analysis, and test execution.
• Support lab and field-testing efforts to ensure reliability in harsh outdoor operating environments.

Required Skills & Experience

• BSc or MSc in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
• 3+ years of professional experience in software testing, verification, or quality engineering for embedded or robotic systems.
• Strong programming ability in C/C++ and Python (experience across both preferred).
• Experience writing automated unit and integration tests (e.g, GoogleTest, pytest, or similar).
• Experience debugging complex systems across software and hardware boundaries.
• Experience using Linux-based development workflows, including scripting, logs, and CLI tools.
• Confidence working with CI systems (e.g. GitHub Actions) and version control (e.g Git).
• Strong attention to detail, with a structured and methodical approach to investigating issues.
• Ability to work hands-on in lab environments and support occasional field-testing activity.

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience with HIL setups using real electronics, sensors, actuators, and control modules.
• Experience of SIL setups utilising simulation environments.
• Experience of testing real-time systems.
• Understanding of safety-related verification approaches (fault detection, fail-safe recovery behaviours, watchdogs).
• Familiarity with embedded communication protocols such as CAN, UART/Serial, SPI, I2C, and Ethernet.
• Experience with robotics system stacks and sensors (encoders, IMUs, cameras, GPS, etc.).
• Familiarity with static analysis, sanitizers, and code quality tools (clang-tidy, clang-format, Pylint, mypy).
• Experience with containerised testing environments (Docker) and reproducible build/test setups.
• Public GitHub repository showing contributions to personal or public open-source projects.

Why Join AssetCool?

• Work on groundbreaking technology revolutionizing the power grid.
• Fast-growing startup with significant industry traction and large-scale projects.
• Collaborative, innovation-driven team with exciting career growth opportunities.
• Competitive salary, and flexible work options.

Research shows that some candidates may hesitate to apply unless they meet every listed requirement. If this role excites you but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification, we still encourage you to apply. You might be exactly who we’re looking for, either for this role or another opportunity within our team.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. We’re committed to building an inclusive, supportive workplace where everyone can thrive, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

If you have a disability or any specific requirements and need adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, just let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate your needs.

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid missing out.

We are not looking for agency support currently.