Direction jobs in United Kingdom

Circa 80k+, London based

An advanced SME developing real-world autonomous systems is looking to hire a Senior Navigation Control Engineer as a key early addition to its edge autonomy team. This is a high-ownership role where the successful candidate will take responsibility for the navigation control stack, help shape the technical roadmap, and play a key role in scaling the system for live fleet deployment as the company grows.

The role focuses on maintaining and evolving an existing navigation codebase, making it robust, secure, and production-ready for articulated vehicles operating in complex industrial environments such as seaports. Working closely with perception, localisation, and systems engineers, the engineer will ensure safe, efficient, and reliable autonomous navigation from planning through control.

• Own the design, development, and optimisation of the navigation layer, including path planning, behaviour planning, motion/trajectory planning, and vehicle control.
• Collaborate closely with perception and localisation teams to enable safe, informed decision-making.
• Establish KPIs and testing frameworks for navigation performance in SIL and HIL environments.
• Ensure compliance with safety and performance standards such as SOTIF.
• Translate advances in navigation, motion planning, and control research into deployable production solutions.
• Contribute to engineering standards and best practices as the autonomy team scales.

• MSc or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• 4-5+ years’ experience working on autonomous vehicles or robotic systems.
• Strong expertise in path planning, behaviour planning, motion/trajectory planning, and control systems.
• Excellent C++ and Python skills with good knowledge of ROS2.
• Strong understanding of vehicle kinematics, dynamics, and control theory.
• Hands‑on experience testing navigation algorithms on real robots or autonomous vehicles.

This role offers the opportunity to own a critical autonomy capability within a growing SME, influence technical direction, work on live industrial deployments, and step into a position with clear scope to expand responsibility and mentor others as the navigation function grows.