Lead Mechatronics and Systems Engineer - Preclinical Research

Netholabs Ltd.; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Netholabs Ltd. is seeking an experienced researcher engineer to own the London capture site, running lab and field sessions with standardized protocols. You will set up hardware, ensure reproducible capture, and maintain clear documentation, enabling scalable, reliable data collection.

The role is hands-on and operational, focusing on execution rather than research design, with responsibilities spanning hardware, infrastructure, and data workflows.

Qualifications

• Experience with human motion capture methods (marker-based, markerless, or IMU systems).
• Ability to calibrate multiple cameras and synchronize data streams.
• Strong hardware troubleshooting skills in lab and field setups.
• Comfort with embedded systems integration and maintenance.
• Basic Python scripting for data handling or small automation.
• Organized, with rigorous documentation and reproducible workflows.

Responsibilities

• Implement and maintain streamlined capture protocols for lab and field sessions.
• Operate and standardize mocap hardware and neurophysiological recording setups.
• Prepare, run and log recording sessions with clear SOPs.
• Ensure data is organized, stored securely, and reproducible.
• Coordinate lab layout, space setup, and equipment inventory.

Skills

Human mocap

Multi-camera calibration

Hardware troubleshooting

Embedded systems

Python scripting

Documentation

Job description

Type: Fixed-term or Full-time

Location: London · On-site · May require occasional travel

Compensation: £65–85k/year, in accordance with experience

The Role

We are building integrated human and non-human motion-capture and neurophysiological recording systems for both controlled lab studies and naturalistic, in-the-wild data collection.

We are looking for an experienced researcher engineer that is hands-on to own the London capture site across both lab and field settings: set up and run the hardware, import and enforce best-practice capture protocols, and ensure every session executes reliably and reproducibly. This is an operational role: you'll take defined capture standards and make them run at scale, not design the science.

Responsibilities

Experimental Operations

• Implement and maintain streamlined, minimal capture protocols

• Import and operationalize best-practice standards for human mocap

• Prepare and run recording sessions

• Maintain clear SOPs and documentation

• Ensure sessions are reproducible and well logged

Hardware & Systems

• Set up and maintain motion-capture and neurophysiological recording systems

• Integrate all devices on a shared clock (video, kinematics, physiological streams)

• Troubleshoot signal, sync, and capture-quality issues

• Assemble and maintain multi-camera / multi-sensor rigs

• Manage equipment inventory, calibration, and camera setup

Infrastructure

• Oversee lab layout and capture-space setup

• Maintain structured data storage, formats, and backups

• Coordinate procurement and supplier communication

Requirements

Core (essential)

• Experience with human motion capture (marker-based, markerless/computer-vision, or IMU-suit systems)

• Multi-camera calibration and time synchronization

• Strong hardware troubleshooting ability

• Comfortable with embedded systems

• Basic Python scripting

• Organized and systematic; disciplined about documentation and reproducibility

Valued

• Hand / finger kinematics capture and video pipelines

• Structured data formats (e.g. HDF5) and reproducible data logging

• Experience with physiological recording systems (EEG or similar), or willingness to cross-train