Senior Robotics Engineer in Bristol

At Reach Industries, we believe that scientists are solving some of the world's most pressing challenges, from combating climate change to developing vaccines and new treatments for diseases yet their tools are still poor. Our AI powered software platform, Lumi, automates operational data capture, insights and processes in labs, augmenting scientists so they can focus on the more creative aspects of their work. Lumi is versatile and is being applied across a wide range of life science industries, including in biotech and pharma. We are now looking for a Senior Robotics Engineer to establish and lead our robotics capability, taking Lumi from a system that understands the laboratory to one that can physically participate in scientific work alongside researchers.

Lumi can already see what's happening in the lab. It knows where the pipettes are, which plates have been filled, whether a protocol has been followed correctly. It tracks objects in real time and understands the workspace in 3D. Robotic manipulation in laboratories is fundamentally more challenging than warehouse automation. Objects are small, deformable, and sensitive. Precision matters. Contamination matters. Mistakes have real consequences. Most robotics systems operate in controlled environments with predictable objects and standard playbooks. This does not.

Role brief: Own the robotics stack end-to-end. Select the hardware, define the software architecture, build the manipulation capabilities, and integrate tightly with Lumi's existing perception system to deliver closed-loop, perception-driven control in real laboratory environments. You will be a key part of building the foundation of robotics at Reach, helping to define everything from hardware and control architecture to safety and deployment. Crucially, you won't have to solve the perception problem; you will inherit Lumi's mature, production-ready system, bypassing years of development to focus directly on turning reliable world-understanding into physical action. This is not warehouse automation. The environments are pharmaceutical labs, cleanrooms, fume hoods, and food manufacturing facilities, where every action may need an audit trail. You will build systems that ship into working labs, used by real scientists, and iterate based on what actually breaks.

Your Remit Spans:

• Hardware platform selection and integration across arms, grippers, and sensors
• Robotics software architecture, including ROS2, control systems, safety layers, and simulation
• Manipulation capabilities for real laboratory tasks such as pipetting, plate moving, and vial handling
• Integration with Lumi's perception stack for perception-driven control
• Closed-loop execution including verification of task completion
• Deployment of robotic systems into real lab environments and iteration based on real-world feedback
• Safety architecture and human-robot collaboration in regulated environments

This is a highly autonomous role with real authority over how Lumi physically interacts with the world.

Your Impact:

• Hardware Platform and Architecture: Select and integrate the right robotic arms, grippers, and sensors for laboratory manipulation. Define the robotics software architecture spanning ROS2, control systems, simulation, and safety layers. Establish the deployment model for getting robotic systems into production lab environments. Make build, buy, or partner decisions for critical robotics infrastructure components.
• Manipulation and Control: Build manipulation capabilities for real laboratory tasks including pipetting, moving plates, and handling vials and equipment. Develop grasping strategies, force control, and compliant motion appropriate for fragile, deformable, and contamination-sensitive objects. Handle the realities of transparent liquids, reflective glassware, flexible tubing, and equipment that wasn't designed for robotic interaction. Define and execute the kinematics, dynamics, and control approaches that make manipulation reliable in the real world.
• Perception-to-Action Integration: Integrate Lumi's perception outputs into working control loops, turning real-time understanding into reliable action. Close the loop between perception and action, including verification of task completion. Build the systems that detect when a task has gone wrong and adapt accordingly. Work closely with the AI team to evolve perception in service of manipulation requirements.
• Deployment and Real-World Iteration: Deploy robotic systems into real laboratory environments and iterate based on real-world failure modes. Demonstrate reliable pick-and-place of labware and execute basic pipetting workflows end-to-end. Build systems that work in production environments, not just prototypes on a bench. Debug messy, real-world systems and make them reliable.
• Safety, Compliance, and Human-Robot Collaboration: Design safety architecture appropriate for cobots operating alongside scientists in regulated environments. Apply cobot standards and force limiting to enable safe human-robot collaboration. Ensure every action produces an audit trail suitable for regulated laboratory settings. Support compliance requirements across pharmaceutical, cleanroom, and food manufacturing environments.

Your Experience: We're looking for evidence of building real robotic systems that actually work in the wild, rather than a perfect CV. You'll likely have experience in:

• Real-world robotic manipulation including pick and place, grasping strategies, force control, and compliant motion
• Integrating perception with action, using camera or depth data to guide robotic behaviour
• Strong software engineering in Python, C++ or both
• Working extensively with ROS or ROS2
• Solid understanding of kinematics, dynamics, and control theory
• Working hands-on with hardware, spending significant time debugging real systems rather than only writing code
• Operating self-directed in roles with significant ambiguity, defining the path rather than waiting for tickets
• Taking robotic systems from prototype into production environments
• AI native - bring a pioneering mindset towards AI adoption - experimentation with and leveraging of AI tools to accelerate your workflow.

Nice to Haves: Experience with collaborative arm platforms (UR, Franka Emika, KUKA, ABB, or similar), liquid handling and pipetting automation, depth sensing integration with manipulation (RGB-D, point clouds, grasp planning), human-robot collaboration safety and cobot standards, simulation environments (Gazebo, MuJoCo, Isaac Sim), AI/ML for robotics (reinforcement learning, imitation learning, learned grasping), or laboratory and pharmaceutical automation is valuable but not required.

What this Role Is (and isn’t):

• This role is: Strategically foundational to how Lumi physically participates in scientific work. Highly autonomous with real authority over hardware, architecture, and deployment decisions. A founding role defining how robotics exists at Reach. A chance to build closed-loop robotic systems on top of a mature perception stack. An opportunity to ship into real laboratory environments and iterate quickly.
• This role is not: A research position disconnected from production deployment. A warehouse automation or industrial pick-and-place role. A role limited to simulation or prototypes that never reach a real lab. A role for someone who prefers a defined platform and playbook over an open problem space. A purely software role; you will spend significant time with hardware in real labs.

What Success Looks Like: A hardware and software platform exists where none did before, and the architectural decisions hold up as the system scales. Lumi has crossed the line from observing science to reliably executing parts of it, with closed-loop manipulation working on real laboratory tasks. Robotic systems are deployed in real lab environments, used by real scientists, and trusted enough to run without an engineer standing next to them. Safety, verification, and audit trails are solved well enough to operate in regulated environments. Other teams (perception, product, deployment) can build on top of the robotics stack without it becoming a bottleneck.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary depending on applicant experience and skill level.
• Stock Options - We want our team to be a part of our success and offer all permanent team members stock options.
• Holiday - 27 days + Bank Holidays + Birthday off + Company closure between Christmas and New Year.
• Pension Contribution - 8% from us and 1% from our employees.
• Flexible working with an 8am-10am start and 4-6pm finish.
• BUPA Private Healthcare and Dental for you and your family.
• Enhanced Maternity Leave - Available to employees with 6+ months tenure, Reach Industries pays 100% of your salary for the first 26 weeks of your maternity leave. The next 13 weeks is paid at 50% of your base salary.
• Growth & Development - Allocated annual budget for conferences, training courses and other materials.
• Hybrid working, with time in our Bristol HQ within our lab and office space weekly.

Celebrating Diversity: We encourage, support and celebrate diversity in the workplace and in all aspects of life. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer who strives to ensure a balanced and measured approach to all aspects of employment. We want this to be the best place you've ever worked; a fun environment where you will positively influence the culture and have the freedom and confidence to do your best work with the respect and trust of your colleagues.

Contact: If you are interested please contact [email protected] for more information.

Polite Recruiter Note: We currently do not wish to work with any external recruiters or agencies, please do not contact us at this stage as it will jeopardise any opportunity of working together in the future. We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.