Systems 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 seeking a Systems Engineer to help design, integrate, and deliver the next generation of marine robotic platforms, working across the full lifecycle from concept and requirements capture through to integration, verification, and deployment. You’ll combine systems thinking with hands-on engineering, collaborating closely with mechanical, electrical, software, and operations teams to turn ideas into field-proven capability. You’ll be embedded in the engineering team, contributing directly to builds, integration, troubleshooting, and sea trials to ensure complex, multi-disciplinary systems operate reliably in demanding real-world environments.

This role combines:

• Systems architecture & requirements ownership — shaping interfaces, behaviours, and system-level design decisions
• Cross-disciplinary engineering — working with hardware, software, and operations to deliver cohesive, integrated systems
• Operationally grounded delivery — ensuring designs are validated through real-world testing, trials, and iterative improvement

You will help maintain a coherent system vision while supporting rapid development cycles, prototype evolution, and continuous field deployment. This role suits someone who thrives at the intersection of engineering design, practical integration, and operational delivery — someone who communicates clearly, builds technical credibility, and enjoys seeing their work operate in the ocean, not just on paper.

What you will be doing:

• Own system architecture — define and manage system-level requirements, interfaces, and architecture across USV and AUV platforms, ensuring clarity and alignment across engineering teams
• Maintain system documentation — develop and control requirements sets, ICDs, and system design descriptions that accurately reflect real-world behaviour and operational needs
• Lead system-level decisions — run trade studies, requirement decompositions, and design evaluations, balancing feasibility, risk, and operational constraints
• Support full lifecycle delivery — contribute from concept through deployment, including integration, verification, validation, configuration control, and change management
• Drive hands-on integration and trials — participate in hardware/software integration, testing, troubleshooting, and support sea trials and deployments, working closely with cross-functional teams and customers

Who you are:

• Experienced in systems engineering across the full lifecycle, with clear ownership of requirements, architecture, integration, and verification activities
• Technically strong, with the ability to interpret, challenge, and refine system-level designs, interfaces, and behaviours across mechanical, electrical, and software domains
• Hands-on, comfortable working with hardware, debugging integration issues, and supporting real-world testing and trials
• A clear communicator who can align diverse engineering teams, operational users, and external stakeholders around system-level priorities and decisions
• Structured and methodical, with a strong focus on reliability, traceability, and delivering systems that work in high-consequence environments

Desirable:

• Understanding of navigation, control systems, and sensor fusion, particularly in autonomous or robotic platforms
• Experience with communication and networking systems such as acoustic modems, RF, or satellite communications
• Background working with USVs, AUVs, or other marine or autonomous systems
• Knowledge of model-based systems engineering approaches and tools such as SysML

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.