Senior Platform Engineer — Robotics & Lab Automation

Oracle Corporation; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Oracle Corporation seeks a Senior Platform Software Engineer to join the founding team in the UK. You will independently deliver software components and equipment integrations, collaborating with experienced engineers on architecture and priorities.

This hands-on role covers building backend services, device drivers, and cloud integrations for automated laboratory workflows. Four days per week in Oracle’s London or Reading offices, with travel to Oxford, are typical.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of professional software development experience in robotics, automation, instrumentation, or hardware-connected systems.
• Strong programming skills in Python or C++, with experience developing and debugging software that interacts with physical equipment.
• Ability to independently deliver well-scoped components, with guidance on broader architecture, system design and prioritization.
• Practical understanding of equipment interfaces, controllers, sensors, actuators, and hardware–software interactions.
• Experience with device communications, vendor SDKs, service APIs, or software integrations.
• Familiarity with asynchronous programming, concurrency, state machines, message-based communication, retries, and recovery from failures.
• Experience with automated testing, source control, code review, diagnostics, and iterative software delivery.
• Ability to troubleshoot across software and hardware interfaces and collaborate with scientists, operators, and specialist engineers.
• Curiosity and willingness to learn scientific workflows, robotics technologies, cloud services, and AI integration.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain software components for device integration, equipment coordination, and automated laboratory workflow execution.
• Build backend services, APIs, equipment adapters, data-ingestion components, and developer tools using established platform designs.
• Develop device drivers, instrument adapters, and robot interfaces using vendor SDKs and documented communication protocols.
• Implement state machines, asynchronous operations, device synchronisation, error handling, and recovery behaviour.
• Connect equipment and local execution software with cloud orchestration and data services.
• Work with scientists and engineers to clarify requirements, document interfaces, and translate laboratory workflows into well-defined features.
• Support hands-on equipment integration, commissioning, calibration, and troubleshooting with hardware, controls, and laboratory specialists.
• Contribute to AI-assisted capabilities, including tool integration, execution validation, and evaluation, within defined operational and safety boundaries.
• Independently deliver assigned components, communicate progress and dependencies, and seek guidance on broader system decisions.

Skills

Python

C++

Robotics experience

Education

Bachelors in CS/EE/Robotics

Tools

Vendor SDKs

ROS / robotics environments

Job description

Oracle Corporation seeks a Senior Platform Software Engineer to join the founding team in the UK. You will independently deliver software components and equipment integrations, collaborating with experienced engineers on architecture and priorities.

This hands-on role covers building backend services, device drivers, and cloud integrations for automated laboratory workflows. Four days per week in Oracle’s London or Reading offices, with travel to Oxford, are typical.