Perception Engineer

Ocean Infinity; Southampton; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Ocean Infinity is seeking a Senior Perception Engineer to design, build and integrate perception capabilities across our fleet of uncrewed marine vessels. You'll turn raw sensor data from cameras, sonar and other sources into reliable outputs for autonomy, navigation and operational teams.

You will lead the development of perception pipelines, integrate components into ROS2-based software, and work across lab testing, simulation and field deployments to ensure robust perception systems in

Qualifications

• MSc/PhD in robotics, computer vision, CS or related field.
• Strong Python and/or C++ production-quality development.
• Experience developing perception systems in real-world robotics.
• Willing to occasionally travel for integration, testing, deployments.
• Experience with ROS or ROS2 or similar robotics middleware.
• Experience with simulated environments for development and testing.
• Deep understanding of camera and other robot sensors.
• End-to-end perception pipelines development, debugging and integration.
• Knowledge of Linux development environment.
• Understanding of git, code review, automated testing and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain and improve perception pipelines for sensor data outputs.
• Integrate perception components into ROS2-based software with platform engineers.
• Build image-processing and sensor-processing components for autonomy and navigation.
• Hands-on lab testing, simulation and field deployments to validate outputs.
• Debug perception issues using logs, replay tooling and visualization.
• Build and improve tooling to visualize, inspect, replay and validate outputs.
• Review code, mentor teammates and unblock integration problems.
• Define interfaces between perception and the rest of the stack with robotics team.

Skills

Python

C++

ROS/ROS2

Linux

CI/CD

Git

Debugging

Sensor data

Education

MSc/PhD in robotics or related field

Job description

We are using and creating technology to transform operations at sea to enable people and the planet to thrive. We are open-minded and fearless in our approach to innovation and don't believe in boundaries. We challenge everything and have massive ambitions to drag aging industries into the tech era. We take safety, equality and education very seriously, and our responsibilities don't stop at our front door. Our business is built on the belief that there's definitely a more environmentally responsible way to operate at sea. We employ people who share our core values. We expect our people to be courageous, trustworthy, and conscientious, driven by a desire to do the right thing. We strive for excellence, work collaboratively, and are genuinely excited by our work. We offer opportunities for our people to develop beyond their role and span a multitude of disciplines. These are open to all, regardless of background and experience level. Working with us means being part of a team that is harnessing technology and creativity to disrupt a traditional industry. We are not your average workplace. Ocean Infinity is looking for a Senior Perception Engineer to design, build and integrate perception capability across our fleet of uncrewed marine vessels. This is a senior technical role within the Robotics & Autonomy team, combining hands‑on engineering with system integration and technical ownership. You'll play a key role in shaping how perception software is built, deployed, validated and supported across real‑world maritime operations, turning raw sensor data from camera, sonar, and other sources into reliable outputs that autonomy, navigation, simulation and operational teams can depend on.

What you will do

• Develop, maintain and improve perception pipelines that turn raw camera, sonar and other sensor data into reliable outputs for the wider robotics and autonomy stack.
• Integrate perception components into ROS2‑based robotics software, working closely with platform engineers on shared interfaces.
• Build image‑processing and sensor‑processing components that support autonomy, navigation, situational awareness and operational tooling.
• Get hands‑on during lab testing, simulation and field deployments to validate perception outputs under real operating conditions.
• Debug perception issues using logs, replay tooling and visualisation, and drive them to root cause.
• Build and improve tooling that helps the team visualise, inspect, replay and validate perception outputs.
• Review other engineers' code and designs, mentor other team members, and unblock people on integration problems.
• Work directly with robotics platform and simulation engineers to agree clear interfaces between perception and the rest of the stack.

Requirements

• MSc/PhD in robotics, computer vision, computer science or a related field.
• Strong Python and/or C++ developer, with code written to production quality.
• Experience developing perception systems in a real‑world robotics environment.
• Willing to occasionally travel for to support integration, testing, and deployments.
• Experience using ROS or ROS2, or similar robotics middleware.
• Experience using simulated environments to develop, test, and evaluate perception algorithms.
• Deep, practical understanding of camera and other robotic sensor data.
• Experience building, debugging and integrating perception pipelines end‑to‑t‑end.
• Knowledge of the Linux development environment.
• Understanding of git, code review, automated testing and CI/CD.
• A pragmatic approach to engineering: able to balance technical quality, delivery needs and real‑world constraints.

Desirable

• Familiarity with ML-based perception systems (detection, segmentation, tracking).
• Experience integrating perception model outputs into robotic systems.
• Experience with simulation, synthetic data, replay tooling or validation pipelines.
• Experience developing for edge compute / GPU-accelerated environments (e.g. NVIDIA Jetson).
• Previous experience in marine, defence, or aerospace.

At Ocean Infinity, we believe in creating equal opportunities for all, celebrating each and everyone's differences. We are driven by transforming the industry, through our technology, thoughts, behaviours and actions. Being inclusive and respectful to all is fundamental to who we are. It is the right thing to do and enables innovation and creativity to thrive.

Salary: The salary varies for this position as we are recruiting in multiple regional locations and job grades. The salary process is based on skills, abilities, and experience required.