Engineering Lab Technician

Zero Point Motion; Bristol; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

Zero Point Motion is building a hands-on engineering lab in Bristol to support the build, test, maintenance, and day-to-day running of our lab. You will work across mechanical fixtures, 3D printed parts, soldered assemblies, test equipment, electrical setups, optical rigs, and Python-based automation.

This role focuses on creating reliable lab infrastructure, enabling rapid experiments, and growing with the company as we scale our lab and technology.

Qualifications

• Hands-on engineering across mechanical, electrical, optical components.
• Ability to design and 3D print fixtures and test aids.
• Experience with lab equipment setup and running test campaigns.
• Willingness to learn and grow in a startup environment.

Responsibilities

• Build, modify, and maintain lab setups used by the engineering team, including fixtures, 3D printed parts, cables, boards, and optical mounts.
• Improve lab setups over time to be more reliable, repeatable, and easier to use.
• Ensure fixtures, parts, measurements, scripts, and checks are ready for engineers on schedule.
• Diagnose problems with equipment, drivers, scripts, connections, and measurements.
• Write Python scripts to automate measurements, logging, and instrument control.
• Keep inventory records and ensure critical parts are available.
• Maintain lab equipment and flag issues early.
• Support engineers during test campaigns and prototype builds.
• Document procedures so tests can be repeated by others.

Skills

Hands-on

Attention to detail

Time management

Troubleshooting

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Power supplies

Soldering equipment

Python scripting

Job description

Zero Point Motion is building a new generation of inertial sensors using silicon photonics and MEMS.

We are developing sensors that can measure motion with far greater sensitivity, lower drift, and better immunity to electrical noise than conventional approaches. Our technology has the potential to change how robots, vehicles, autonomous systems, industrial machines, and defence platforms understand movement in the physical world.

We are an early-stage, VC-backed deep-tech company based in Bristol. The team is small, ambitious, and highly technical. We are building something difficult from the ground up, which means the lab matters. The way we build, test, organise, automate, document, and maintain our setups directly shapes how quickly the company can move.

We are looking for someone who wants to be part of that journey.

The Role

We are hiring an Engineering Lab Technician to support the build, test, maintenance, and day-to-day running of our engineering lab.

This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys practical engineering. You will work across mechanical fixtures, 3D printed parts, soldered assemblies, test equipment, electrical setups, optical and sensor rigs, and Python-based automation.

Some of the work will be repetitive. Some of it will be detailed and delicate. Some of it will involve debugging things that do not work the first time. That is part of building real hardware.

The right person will enjoy making things work properly. They will be careful, reliable, curious, and willing to learn. They will take pride in doing practical work well, whether that means building a fixture, soldering a cable, automating a test, checking inventory, or helping an engineer get a setup running before a deadline.

This is a good role for someone who wants to grow inside a startup and become trusted as a central part of the engineering team.

What You’ll Help Build

You will help us build the practical foundation of the company: the lab systems, test setups, fixtures, tools, scripts, and routines that allow the engineering team to move faster.

You will not be sitting far away from the technology. You will be close to the hardware, close to the experiments, and close to the problems we are trying to solve.

Over time, we want this person to become someone who understands how the lab works, knows where things are, knows what needs improving, and can help the team turn ideas into working setups quickly and carefully.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

Building and improving lab setups

You will help build, modify, and maintain test setups used by the engineering team. This may include mechanical fixtures, 3D printed parts, soldered cables, electrical test boards, optical mounts, sensor rigs, and general lab infrastructure.

You will also help improve these setups over time so they become easier to use, more reliable, and more repeatable.

Supporting practical delivery

Hardware development depends on practical tasks being finished properly and on time. You will help make sure fixtures, test setups, parts, measurements, scripts, and lab checks are ready when the team needs them.

This role will suit someone who likes the satisfaction of closing things out and keeping momentum going.

Debugging and fixing things

You will help diagnose practical problems with equipment, drivers, test scripts, connections, cables, boards, fixtures, and measurement setups.

We do not expect you to know everything already. We do expect you to enjoy working things out. A good technician is someone who can check the obvious things, read documentation, test assumptions, isolate the issue, and explain clearly what they have found.

Automating repetitive work

Where we are doing the same task repeatedly, we want to make it easier, faster, and less error-prone.

You will help write Python scripts for measurement capture, data logging, instrument control, simple analysis, test routines, and lab workflow improvements.

You do not need to be a software engineer, but you should be comfortable using Python as a practical tool.

Keeping the lab organised and reliable

You will help maintain inventory, track components, check equipment, manage consumables, keep spares organised, and make sure the lab stays usable as the company grows.

A well-run lab gives the whole team more speed and confidence. This role is central to that.

Health and safety

You will help keep the lab safe, tidy, and well-managed. We can train the details of our health and safety procedures, but we are looking for someone with a careful and responsible attitude from day one.

What You’ll Be Doing Day to Day

You may be asked to:

• Design and 3D print mechanical fixtures, brackets, mounts, jigs, and test aids

• Solder wires, connectors, simple boards, and test assemblies

• Use oscilloscopes, logic analysers, power supplies, signal generators, laser drivers, and other lab equipment

• Set up and run repeatable electrical, mechanical, optical, or sensor tests

• Debug equipment, scripts, drivers, loose connections, noisy signals, or unreliable measurements

• Write Python scripts to automate measurements, logging, analysis, or instrument control

• Help keep inventory records accurate and make sure critical parts are available

• Maintain lab equipment and flag issues early

• Support engineers during test campaigns, prototype builds, and measurement workflows

• Document procedures so tests can be repeated by someone else

• Suggest practical improvements to how the lab runs

What We’re Looking For

We are looking for someone who is practical, careful, and motivated by real engineering work.

You should be someone who:

• Likes working with your hands

• Takes care with details

• Can do repetitive tasks properly and consistently

• Manages your time well

• Takes deadlines seriously

• Enjoys fixing things

• Is comfortable learning independently

• Communicates clearly when something is blocked

• Documents work so that others can follow it

• Wants to grow with the company as the lab and technology mature

You do not need to arrive as the finished article. You do need to bring the right attitude: hands-on, reliable, curious, and careful.

Useful But Not Essential

These would be helpful, but we can train the right person:

• Photonics or optics awareness

• Experience with MEMS, sensors, or semiconductor technology

• Embedded hardware design

• PCB design versus simple bring up

• Experience in a startup, small engineering team, or fast-moving research group

Qualifications

We are open to different backgrounds.

You may have a degree, HNC/HND, apprenticeship, Masters, or equivalent hands‑on experience in engineering, physics, electronics, mechanical design, robotics, instrumentation, or a related technical area.

What matters most is that you can work safely, carefully, and effectively in a real lab.

What Success Looks Like

In this role, success means:

• The lab becomes more organised, reliable, and easier to work in

• Test setups are built, maintained, and improved on time

• Repetitive work becomes more automated

• Engineers can move faster because practical blockers are removed

• Equipment issues are spotted early and handled properly

• Measurements become more repeatable because procedures are clear

• You become someone the team trusts to help turn ideas into working hardware

Why Join Us

This is a chance to join a deep‑tech company at an early and important stage.

You will be working on technology that sits across photonics, MEMS, sensors, robotics, navigation, autonomy, and defence. You will get exposure to difficult engineering problems and work closely with a team trying to build a new sensor architecture from the ground up.

For the right person, this role can grow. As the lab grows, the responsibility can grow too.