Robotics Software Engineer in Southampton

We are using and creating technology to transform operations at sea to enable people and the planet to thrive. We are open-minded and fearless in our approach to innovation and don’t believe in boundaries. We challenge everything and have massive ambitions to drag aging industries into the tech era. We take safety, equality and education very seriously, and our responsibilities don’t stop at our front door. Our business is built on the belief that there’s definitely a more environmentally responsible way to operate at sea.

We employ people who share our core values. We expect our people to be courageous, trustworthy, and conscientious, driven by a desire to do the right thing. We strive for excellence, work collaboratively, and are genuinely excited by our work. We offer opportunities for our people to develop beyond their role and span a multitude of disciplines. These are open to all, regardless of background and experience level. Working with us means being part of a team that is harnessing technology and creativity to disrupt a traditional industry. We are not your average workplace.

We are looking for a talented and purpose-driven Software Engineer to help build the autonomous marine systems that will define the future of maritime operations, joining a team that develops and operates world-leading Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Autonomous Surface Vehicles (USVs) used in some of the most demanding, data-scarce and high-consequence environments on the planet. You’ll contribute directly to the real-time control, safety, autonomy and mission execution at the heart of our platforms - pioneering technology that radically improves the security and prosperity of our customers. Working at the intersection of advanced robotics and live field operations, you’ll help deliver reliable, high-performance software that stands up to the harshest conditions, enabling us to push the boundaries of what uncrewed systems can do.

What you will do:

• Developing and refining real-time control systems for high-speed autonomous surface and underwater vehicles
• Writing reliable software for navigation, mission execution, fault management, and sensor integration
• Designing communications interfaces (serial, satellite, acoustic) and managing edge cases like low bandwidth or lost links
• Building safety-critical subsystems including fallback modes, health monitoring, and emergency handling
• Working closely with field teams to test, iterate, and validate software under operational conditions
• Participating in design reviews, simulations, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and sea trials

Who you are:

• Strong proficiency in modern C++ (C++11 or later), ideally within safety- or mission-critical applications
• Experience with real-time or embedded systems (e.g. RTOS, bare metal, or Linux-based platforms)
• Familiarity with Linux development workflows, and Git
• Proven ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary engineering team
• Strong sense of ownership: you take initiative, simplify where possible, and follow through on commitments
• Resilience and adaptability: you stay focused when things change, fail, or need to be reworked
• Commitment to safety and quality: you understand the system-level impact of your code and act accordingly

Desirable:

• Experience with ROS (Robot Operating System), including ROS1 and ROS2, for robotic control and sensor integration
• Understanding of navigation, control systems, and sensor fusion
• Experience with serial and low-bandwidth communications (e.g. RS-232/485, acoustic, satellite)
• Knowledge of geodetic calculations or coordinate transformation systems
• Familiarity with DCCL or similar compact data encoding standards
• Field experience in deploying, testing, or troubleshooting autonomous systems in operational environments

Salary: The salary varies for this position as we are recruiting in multiple regional locations and job grades. The salary process is based on skills, abilities, and experience required.

What you can expect:

At Ocean Infinity, we believe in creating equal opportunities for all, celebrating each and everyone’s differences. We are driven by transforming the industry, through our technology, thoughts, behaviours and actions. Being inclusive and respectful to all is fundamental to who we are. It is the right thing to do and enables innovation and creativity to thrive. There is more work to be done, and we know that we aren’t perfect, but our commitment to these values is unwavering. They are central to our mission and the impact we have on the industry, meaning, we cannot live without them.