Robotics Software Engineering Manager
HybridBristol, England, United Kingdom
Job Summary
Lead and shape a growing robotics software team with high autonomy, driving performance and a strong collaborative culture. Define processes, structures, and ways of collaboration to enable predictable, high-quality output in robotics projects. Hire, mentor, and establish engineering culture while translating company objectives into actionable team plans. Work closely with cross-functional teams across the UK and Germany to align on goals and priorities. Balance people leadership with organizational responsibility in a dynamic, evolving environment. Take on a central leadership role within an international, distributed organization to have a direct impact on team effectiveness and long-term capability building.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years in an engineering leadership or team lead role
- Direct people management (regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and structured career development)
- Demonstrated experience hiring and scaling robotics software teams
- Proven ability to establish and refine team processes (e.g., planning, road-mapping, estimation, delivery tracking)
- 5+ years of experience developing production-grade robotics software in domains such as perception, SLAM, sensor fusion, motion planning, or control
- Experience collaborating with universities, research labs, or robotics institutes
- Hands-on experience with real-world deployment of robotic or autonomous systems (e.g., industrial, underwater, logistics, or field robotics)
- Understanding of safety, reliability, and operational constraints
- Familiarity with robotics software ecosystems and frameworks (e.g., ROS/ROS 2)
- Modern software engineering practices in C++ and/or Python
- Testing, simulation, and data-driven validation
- Ability to translate company and research roadmaps into clear team plans, milestones, and measurable outcomes
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills in distributed, cross-functional environments
- High adaptability, initiative, and a continuous-improvement mindset
- Track record of identifying capability or organizational gaps and addressing them through hiring, coaching, upskilling, or restructuring
Desired Qualifications
- Ideally across both research and industrial environments
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