Autonomous Systems Lead - UAV & Robotics

Tech Contracts Online; Leeds; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

TCO is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to lead the Autonomous Systems team, covering UAV platforms, autonomous field robotics, sensing payloads, electronics and mechatronics integration, testing and deployment readiness.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role with immediate line-management responsibility for a multidisciplinary team of around six engineers, reporting to the Head of Engineering and working with Product Engineering, Robotics Software, Operations and Field Operations.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in robotics or autonomous systems engineering.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Hands-on UAV/robotic systems development and deployment.
• Strong systems engineering judgement and risk assessment.
• Credibility across UAV, autonomy, embedded electronics and sensing.

Responsibilities

• Provide full line management for the Autonomous Systems team.
• Lead engineering delivery across UAV platforms and autonomy.
• Guide requirements interpretation and system architecture decisions.
• Coordinate across software, firmware, electronics and field teams.
• Oversee testing, validation and deployment readiness.

Skills

Team leadership

People management

Systems engineering

Requirements interpretation

Architecture trade-offs

Cross-functional coordination

Fast-moving environment

Multidisciplinary collaboration

Safety and compliance mindset

Education

Robotics/Aerospace/Mechatronics engineering degree

Equivalent industry experience

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

MAVLink

ROS/ROS2

Linux-based robotics

QGroundControl / Mission Planner

Python / C++

MATLAB/Simulink

Docker / CI/CD

Git

Job description

TCO is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to lead the Autonomous Systems team, covering UAV platforms, autonomous field robotics, sensing payloads, electronics and mechatronics integration, testing and deployment readiness.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role with immediate line-management responsibility for a multidisciplinary team of around six engineers, reporting to the Head of Engineering and working with Product Engineering, Robotics Software, Operations and Field Operations.