Lead Robotics Engineer

Callen-Lenz; Southampton; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Pension Scheme

Share Incentive Plan

Private Health Insurance

Life assurance

Volunteering day

Professional membership reimbursement

Job summary

Callen-Lenz is seeking a Lead Robotics Engineer to define and execute the company’s robotics, electronics and software strategy from the ground up. You will lead multidisciplinary teams, drive autonomous prototyping across air, land and surface concepts, and shape the technical direction of early-stage uncrewed systems.

Based in the UK, the role emphasizes hands-on engineering leadership, rapid iteration, and collaboration with the CTO to deliver high‑quality prototypes and robust system

Qualifications

• Bachelors, Masters or equivalent work experience in electronics, software robotics or another relevant engineering field.

Responsibilities

• Accountable for the delivery of electronics, software and control systems in the company’s prototypes and testing systems.
• Manage small teams, as well as relying on your own expertise, to deliver robotic solutions.
• Implement safe working practices for activities involved in the development of your solutions.
• Build the company’s prototyping capability, developing in‑house expertise and building relationships with a supplier base for external expertise.
• Identify and manage project requirements, interfacing with other disciplines to ensure builds meet the projects overall objectives.
• Creation and ownership of project level artefacts including requirements, as‑designed and as‑built definition and testing documentation.
• Manage project budgets, resource and risks, report regularly to project management and the CTO.
• Keeping an eye on future technologies within your discipline, scanning for new capabilities that may have value to the business.
• Support off‑site trials of prototypes.
• Contribute to pre‑prototype concept design and definition activities for new uncrewed systems.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Skills

Robotics engineering

Electronics

Software development

Control systems

Autonomous systems

Team leadership

Prototyping

Risk management

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s in Electronics, Software, Robotics or related engineering

Tools

CAN

SPI

I2C

UART

Ethernet

Job description

Lead Robotics Engineer

Vacancy Reference: CLA- 429

Position: Full-time

Salary: Competitive DOE

We are recruiting for a new business operating in the uncrewed systems sector. The company is currently operating in stealth mode, so its name is not being disclosed publicly at this stage. Further details will be shared with shortlisted candidates as part of the recruitment process.

The business is being established as part of a successful existing group, combining the agility and ambition of an early‑stage venture with the backing, experience and support of an established organisation. This is an opportunity to join at a formative stage and play a key role in shaping the company’s technical capability, operations and future direction.

The intent of the business is to identify and de‑risk new disruptive uncrewed systems products across air, land, surface and subsurface. This may include clean‑sheet platform designs that offer benefits over existing products in the market, as well as payload or capability developments that could open new markets or new use cases for existing platforms. The company has several initial concepts to explore, but it will be the responsibility of everyone in the business to help identify new ideas, feeding and rapidly progressing a pipeline of innovative concepts.

We are initially recruiting for a small number of key engineering and operational roles to lead the businesses. Successful candidates will be naturally curious, commercially aware and able to balance creativity with sound judgement. With a business focus on new and novel work, candidates must be comfortable working with dynamic requirement sets and adjusting course at pace when evidence suggests a different approach is needed.

Why Work for Us

This role offers the chance to work across a varied and interesting portfolio of projects, with real scope to shape what is developed and how it moves forward. For the right candidate, it will provide an exciting environment: collaborative, fast‑moving and focused on delivering work that has a practical impact.

Our benefits include:

• 25 days annual leave per year (plus bank holidays)
• Buy/Sell holiday policy up to 5 days either way
• Pension Scheme via Royal London
• Company contributed Share Incentive Plan
• Green Car Scheme
• Life assurance scheme (6x basic salary)
• Income protection policy (75% of basic salary)
• Private Health Insurance via Bupa
• Private Dental insurance via Bupa
• Enhanced Maternity and paternity
• 1 Professional membership reimbursed per year
• 1 paid volunteering day per year
• Access to an independent financial advisor year round
• Training & development opportunities

About the role

We are seeking a leading mixed discipline engineer with skills in the areas of robotics, electronics, software and control systems, ideally with experience working with uncrewed systems. In this leading role, you will work directly with the Chief Technology Officer and closely with other multidisciplinary leads to deliver autonomous prototypes across a varied portfolio of fast‑moving projects. This is a rare opportunity to shape the technical delivery of early‑stage uncrewed system concepts, while also leading the development of a company’s robotic, electrical and software functions from the ground up.

Responsibilities

• Accountable for the delivery of electronics, software and control systems in the company’s prototypes and testing systems.
• Manage small teams, as well as relying on your own expertise, to deliver robotic solutions.
• Implement safe working practices for activities involved in the development of your solutions.
• Build the company’s prototyping capability, developing in‑house expertise and building relationships with a supplier base for external expertise.
• Identify and manage project requirements, interfacing with other disciplines to ensure builds meet the projects overall objectives.
• Creation and ownership of project level artefacts including requirements, as‑designed and as‑built definition and testing documentation.
• Manage project budgets, resource and risks, report regularly to project management and the CTO.
• Keeping an eye on future technologies within your discipline, scanning for new capabilities that may have value to the business.
• Support off‑site trials of prototypes.
• Contribute to pre‑prototype concept design and definition activities for new uncrewed systems.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Health & Safety

• Demonstrate in daily activities a commitment to health and safety in the workplace by always ensuring tasks are performed in the safest possible manner
• Report all hazards and incidents that the individual is party to, or observes, in the correct manner.
• When required or directed, participate in any health and safety training.

We are open to applications from candidates who already have experience operating as a discipline lead, as well as strong senior engineers ready to take the next step. The scope and level of the appointment may be tailored to reflect the successful candidate’s experience.

Qualifications:

• Bachelors, Masters or equivalent work experience in electronics, software robotics or another relevant engineering field.

Skills and Experience

If you don’t meet all the requirements below but know that you bring other experience you feel could benefit our business, please do still apply.

Essential:

• Strong relevant experience.
• Ability to take robotic concepts from early definition, through prototyping, and on to detailed design, manufacture, assembly and test.
• Experience developing control strategies that allow autonomous systems to perceive and react to the world around them.
• Competent in the selection, assembly and interfacing of COTS electronics (batteries, PSUs, microprocessors, sensors, actuators, radios etc.) in the build of autonomous systems or for test system data acquisition and control.
• Familiarity with common communications protocols such as CAN, SPI, I2C, UART and Ethernet.
• Ability to make sound engineering decisions quickly, balancing performance, cost, timescale and risk.
• Strong problem‑solving skills, with the ability to adapt designs and change direction quickly in response to test evidence or changing requirements.
• Experience leading technical workstreams or small teams, including coordinating the work of external engineers and suppliers.
• A hands‑on approach, with willingness to lead practical build, integration and test activities.
• Flexible, eager to learn and lead on new engineering areas outside core skills.
• Commitment to safe, robust and high‑quality engineering practice.

Desirable:

• Experience working on autonomous, semi‑autonomous or remotely operated systems.
• Exposure to flight control, simulation and development tools/environments common in the development of autonomous systems (e.g. Ardupilot/PX4, Gazebo, ROS etc.)
• Capable software developer for both ‘quick and dirty’ trial systems as well as for deployable code.
• Experience working with a range of actuators including BLDC motors/inverters, servos, linear actuators etc. Defining requirements and making appropriate selections.
• Experience working with internal combustion engines.
• Experience using laboratory test equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analysers or power supplies.
• Ability to lead advanced electronic troubleshooting, finding the root cause and solutions for problems found during system integration work including EMI and environmental factors.
• Experience helping define engineering processes, standards and ways of working in a growing organisation.

Personal Attributes

• Must be a British Citizen or have an existing right to work in the UK.
• Ability to commit to occasional national and international travel.
• A full valid UK driving license.
• Must be able to work onsite routinely, minimum 4 days per week.
• Ability to hold Security Clearance – 5 years residence in the UK.

We are an equal opportunities employer, committed to building an inclusive working environment. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age. It is essential that the successful candidate must, by the start of their employment have permission to work in the UK. Proof of identity and eligibility to work in the UK will be required prior to commencement of employment.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.