Position: Lead Autonomous Systems Engineer

Location: Plymouth

Salary: Up to £70,000 & attractive benefits

The Company

Our client is seeking an experienced Autonomous Systems Engineer to drive the development of a new Autonomous vehicle for a UK Defence customer.

As the Lead Systems Engineer you will be responsible for delivery of communication, command & control aspects of the new vehicle.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a hugely talented team, where you will play a key role in the evolution & realisation of the company vision, to deliver cost effective autonomy to defence clients in the UK and abroad.

Role details

• You will be responsible for driving the development of the command & control, navigation, communication & information system components of a new vehicle, built from the ground up with defence specific requirements incorporated 
• You will be a key influence in building a strong development team ensuring the timely development of the new vehicle in line with project deadlines and company ambition
• Your responsibilities will include overseeing system architecture design, planning, development, testing & qualification activities
• Reporting progress to senior management & stakeholders throughout the life of the project
• This broad-based & challenging role, encompasses concept development through to implementation, from embedded system firmware through to human interface software
• The position will also present opportunities for some domestic & international travel, to support development, integration & system trial.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant engineering field (i.e., Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Mechatronic Engineering) or equivalent experience, plus proven relevant industry or academic R&D experience.
• Technical expertise & subject matter expert in one or more of the following technical areas: control systems & autonomy, robotics middleware, embedded control systems, subsea navigation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and subsea acoustic communication & localisation.
• Demonstrable experience in R&D and/or software development with some leadership experience.
• Experience related to software and systems architecture, design, and system integration.
• Display technical aptitude & sound analytical, decision making, problem solving & task prioritisation skills 
• Proficient in the definition, analysis, and verification of system requirements
• Experience programming in C/C++/Python or another relevant language
• Hands on approach to design, development, and testing
• Highly proficient ability to apply new information quickly & to effectively handle complex assignments
• Self-motivated, innovative, willing to pursue new technical areas, capable of working independently
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Highly proficient ability in communicating issues, impacts, and corrective actions
• Knowledge/experience of robotics middleware frameworks such as MOOS or ROS.
• Knowledge/experience in the undersea domain
• Undersea system integration and testing experience
• Relevant discipline interest and working knowledge, for example:
  • UUV or other autonomous vehicles
  • Robotic system guidance and control
  • Navigation and positioning
  • Subsea communication

Desirable Qualifications & Experience

• Experience of working as part of a remote development team.
• Experience with operating and developing for MOOS, ROS or RTOS systems.
• Experience in building agent-based architectures/systems.
• Experience with wireless sensor networks, and wireless communication protocols.
• Familiarity with industrial control systems.
• Full stack embedded system or IoT experience/experimentation, from bare-metal firmware through to user interface.
• Familiarity with typical data storage approaches or solutions in distributed applications.
• Familiarity with requirement management tools such as Jama, IBM Doors etc.
• User Interface design and development
• Experience with MATLAB Simulink

Please contact Oli Solari, in the first instance, for a more detailed discussion and to discuss your application