Staff Robotics Engineer, Localisation

Wayve; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Wayve, based in London, seeks a Staff Robotics Engineer, Localisation to architect and productionise onboard localisation. You will design state-estimation systems fusing GNSS, IMU and wheel odometry to deliver accurate vehicle poses across environments and conditions, guiding roadmaps and mentoring engineers.

This senior role combines algorithm development, validation, and deployment on real-time platforms, with collaboration across robotics, calibration, controls, and embedded software teams.

Qualifications

• Deep practical expertise in localisation, state estimation or sensor fusion with GNSS, IMU and wheel-odometry.
• Filtering-based estimation methods incl. Kalman-family filters and factor graphs.
• Production robotics or real-time systems experience in deployment.
• Strong C++ and Python for prototyping, validation and tooling.
• Rigorous validation and benchmarking with metrics, ground-truth, regression testing.
• Hands-on leadership defining architecture and roadmaps, mentoring across teams.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the onboard localisation architecture and roadmap, aligned with vehicle programmes and product needs.
• Lead development of robust state-estimation systems fusing GNSS, IMU and wheel-odometry, with scope for camera/RADAR/LiDAR data.
• Take localisation solutions from design to production on real-time vehicle platforms with fault handling.
• Develop validation frameworks, datasets, metrics and regression tests across diverse vehicles and conditions.
• Provide hands‑on technical leadership across robotics, calibration, controls, sensors and vehicle-platform teams.

Skills

Localisation

State estimation

Sensor fusion

Kalman filters

C++

Python

Validation

Leadership

Education

MS/PhD in Robotics or related field

Equivalent practical experience

Tools

GTSAM

Ceres

g2o

ROS

Eigen

OpenCV

PCL

CUDA

MISRA C++

Job description

About us

Founded in 2017, Wayve is the leading developer of Embodied AI technology. Our advanced AI software and foundation models enable vehicles to perceive, understand, and navigate any complex environment, enhancing the usability and safety of automated driving systems.

Our vision is to create autonomy that propels the world forward. Our intelligent, mapless, and hardware-agnostic AI products are designed for automakers, accelerating the transition from assisted to automated driving.

In our fast-paced environment big problems ignite us—we embrace uncertainty, leaning into complex challenges to unlock groundbreaking solutions. We aim high and stay humble in our pursuit of excellence, constantly learning and evolving as we pave the way for a smarter, safer future.

At Wayve, your contributions matter. We value diversity, embrace new perspectives, and foster an inclusive work environment; we back each other to deliver impact.

Make Wayve the experience that defines your career!

The role

Wayve is seeking a Staff Robotics Engineer, Localisation to lead the technical development of our onboard localisation capability. You will design and productionise state-estimation systems that combine GNSS, IMU and wheel odometry to provide accurate, reliable vehicle motion and pose estimates across diverse vehicles, environments and operating conditions.

This is a senior individual-contributor role with responsibility for shaping the localisation architecture and technical roadmap, while remaining deeply involved in algorithm development, implementation, validation and onboard deployment. You will work across robotics, calibration, controls, sensor, vehicle-platform and embedded-software teams to ensure localisation is robust, observable and suitable for real-time production use. You will also provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers working across localisation and the broader state-estimation stack.

Key responsibilities:

• Define and evolve the technical architecture and roadmap for Wayve’s onboard localisation capability, aligned with vehicle programmes and product requirements.
• Lead the development of robust state-estimation systems that fuse GNSS, IMU and wheel-odometry signals, with scope to incorporate camera-, RADAR- and LiDAR-based measurements.
• Take localisation solutions from algorithm design and prototyping through production implementation and deployment on real-time vehicle platforms, including robust fault handling and degraded-mode behaviour.
• Develop rigorous validation and benchmarking capabilities, including representative datasets, ground-truth comparisons, performance metrics and regression testing across diverse vehicles, environments and operating conditions.
• Provide hands‑on technical leadership and mentorship, working across robotics, calibration, controls, sensors and vehicle-platform teams to drive integration and resolve complex system-level issues.

About you

In order to set you up for success as a Staff Robotics Engineer, Localisation at Wayve, we’re looking for the following skills and experience.

Essential

• Deep practical expertise in localisation, state estimation or sensor fusion, with experience combining GNSS, IMU and wheel-odometry measurements.
• Strong understanding of filtering-based estimation methods, including Kalman-family filters such as the EKF or UKF, and nonlinear optimisation approaches such as factor graphs.
• Experience developing and operating localisation or state-estimation systems in production robotics, autonomous vehicles or comparable real-time systems.
• Strong modern C++ software-engineering skills and proficiency in Python for prototyping, analysis, validation and test tooling.
• Experience designing rigorous localisation validation and benchmarking, including accuracy metrics, uncertainty evaluation, ground-truth comparison, regression testing and failure analysis.
• Evidence of hands‑on technical leadership, including defining architecture, influencing technical roadmaps, mentoring engineers and collaborating effectively across multiple teams.

Desirable

• Experience incorporating camera-, LiDAR- or RADAR-based measurements into localisation and sensor-fusion systems, including visual, LiDAR or RADAR odometry.
• Hands‑on experience with nonlinear optimisation and robotics libraries such as GTSAM, Ceres or g2o.
• Familiarity with automotive software‑development practices and coding standards, including MISRA C++.
• Experience deploying state-estimation software on embedded or resource‑constrained platforms with real‑time compute, memory and latency requirements.
• Experience developing high-quality ground truth, benchmarks and validation evidence for localisation or other state-estimation systems.
• Familiarity with relevant robotics tooling and libraries such as ROS, Eigen, OpenCV, PCL or CUDA.
• MS or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

This is a full‑time role based in our office in London, UK. At Wayve we want the best of all worlds so we operate a hybrid working policy that combines time together in our offices and workshops to fuel innovation, culture, relationships and learning, and time spent working from home.

Wayve is committed to creating an inclusive interview experience. If you require any accommodations or adjustments to participate fully in our interview process, please let us know.

We understand that everyone has a unique set of skills and experiences and that not everyone will meet all of the requirements listed above. If you’re passionate about self‑driving cars and think you have what it takes to make a positive impact on the world, we encourage you to apply.

At Wayve we’re committed to creating a diverse, fair and respectful culture that is inclusive of everyone based on their unique skills and perspectives, and regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis as protected by applicable law.

For more information visit Careers at Wayve.

To learn more about what drives us, visit Values at Wayve

For US candidates only, please visit E-Verify Notice and Participation and Right to Work

DISCLAIMER: We will not ask about marriage or pregnancy, care responsibilities or disabilities in any of our job adverts or interviews. However, we do look to capture information about care responsibilities, and disabilities among other diversity information as part of an optional DEI Monitoring form to help us identify areas of improvement in our hiring process and ensure that the process is inclusive and non‑discriminatory.