Lead Robotics Engineer
14 days ago
London
We're automating homebuilding. Construction is one of the least automated industries in the world, and homes are still built largely by hand, in slow, expensive and fragmented processes. AUAR is a physical AI and robotics company changing that. Our software platform, MasterBuilder, turns a building design into the instructions needed to manufacture a home's timber structure. Our robotic MicroFactory then deploys directly onto a homebuilder's site and produces the wall, floor and roof panels they need, on demand. It arrives in a shipping container, sits on a footprint of max 30 by 30 ft and runs off generators on a gravel pad: no grid connection, no permanent site works. We own and run the equipment, our customers buy the panels it produces, not the machine. We're past pure R&D and shipping our first commercial MicroFactories this year, across the UK, Europe and North America. Backed by Planet A, PT1, Shadow Ventures and ABB Robotics, we're a team of around 35 engineers, roboticists, operators and designers working from an 11,000 sq ft R&D and demonstration facility in London. The systems we build now will decide how homes are manufactured at scale. We're looking for a Lead Robotics Engineer to take technical and delivery leadership of the robotics systems that run our MicroFactories. This is a hands-on engineering leadership role, with robotics software as your technical home. From day one you'll work directly in our ROS 2 stack: developing features, reviewing architecture and PRs, debugging on real hardware and unblocking other engineers. We expect meaningful technical input from week one, and contributions to the codebase within your first month. The MicroFactory spans ROS 2, behaviour-tree orchestration, industrial robots, PLC-controlled mechanisms, sensors, tooling, vision and simulation, running against timber that bends, twists and varies. Your deepest expertise will be in robotics software, but you'll need to think at the level of the complete machine. Beyond your own output, you'll own how the team turns product goals into technical plans and delivers against them: capabilities, dependencies, capacity, critical path, fast decisions. You'll lead a team spanning robotics software, simulation and system integration, including senior engineers with deep expertise of their own, so you'll need to know when to go deep, when to delegate and when the right engineering decision is to simplify. We're looking for an experienced robotics engineer who can lead, not a manager with only a high-level understanding of the domain. • The robotics software stack - Shape and evolve the ROS 2 and behaviour-tree architecture that coordinates robots, mechanisms, tooling, sensors and production processes., • Technical delivery - Turn product objectives into credible engineering plans with clear scope, ownership, sequencing, dependencies, capacity and milestones., • Engineering throughput - Understand where work is accumulating, identify the real constraint and move capacity accordingly, so that adding engineers actually increases system-level delivery velocity., • Engineering judgement - Make fast decisions about architecture, scope and complexity. Know when to build the robust solution, when to simplify, when to defer, and when a temporary mitigation is the right way to keep delivery moving., • Team effectiveness - Review designs and PRs, unblock engineers, raise the standard of the codebase, mentor the team, and create the technical structure that lets senior and junior engineers work in parallel., • Robotics in the real world - Build software that works against real hardware and real materials: timber that bends and varies, machines that must recover gracefully, systems that have to run reliably on a customer's site., • Growing the team - Identify capability and capacity gaps, make hiring and resourcing decisions, and shape the robotics engineering organisation as AUAR scales., • In your first weeks, you're contributing technically, building a clear understanding of the system and helping engineers make faster, better decisions., • Within your first month, you're making meaningful contributions to the ROS 2 stack, reviewing work and actively unblocking engineers., • Within two months, there is a clear robotics engineering plan with visible ownership, dependencies, capacity and critical path. Engineers understand what matters most, and blockers surface before they become schedule problems., • PRs move faster, engineers get unblocked sooner, and the output of the team rises., • Integration, simulation and validation are treated as part of the development system rather than downstream activities, and resources move toward whichever part is constraining delivery., • You can move between deep IC work, code review, planning and mentoring without losing the thread on any of them. You're an experienced robotics software engineer who has already started leading other engineers and now wants broader ownership of a robotics product and the team delivering it. You've built substantial robotics software, shipped it on real hardware, and understand what happens when software meets robots, PLCs, mechanisms, sensors and imperfect physical processes. You've made architectural decisions, broken complex objectives into executable work and taken responsibility for more than your own code. You enjoy solving technical problems yourself, but you're equally interested in building the structure that lets a team solve them faster. You have opinions on how an effective robotics team delivers, how complex systems should be decomposed, and how to balance engineering quality against the need to ship. If you've moved away from hands-on engineering into pure management, or you need a mature process handed to you before you can be effective, this is not the right environment. This is a small, fast-moving team with real ambiguity, and the structure you'd want is the structure you'd be building. • Deep robotics software experience: you've built and shipped substantial robotics software on real hardware, and ROS 2 is a comfortable home., • A greenfield track record: you've taken systems from early stages to working products, not just extended mature codebases., • Strong C++ and Python: enough to contribute directly to a production robotics codebase within your first month., • Systems architecture: you've architected complex robotics systems involving multiple interacting components, not isolated algorithms or features., • Real-world operation: you've taken robotic or automated systems through integration, commissioning and operation outside the lab., • The wider industrial stack: working understanding of robot controllers, PLCs and controls, sensors, actuators and hardware interfaces. You don't need to be the team's controls expert, but you need to understand how robotics software interacts with the complete machine., • Technical leadership and judgement: you've reviewed designs and code, mentored engineers, owned outcomes beyond your own contribution, and you know when to improve an architecture, when to simplify it and when to ship., • Precise technical communication: including breaking complex concepts down for non-technical stakeholders., • Experience building robotics products in a start-up, scale-up or fast-paced R&D environment where hardware and software are developed together., • Experience with simulation, automated robotics testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing or similar approaches to reducing dependence on physical hardware during development., • Competitive salary based on experience, • 28 bookable days + bank holidays + seasonal office closure, • Health and dental insurance via Bupa, • An 11,000 sq ft R&D and demonstration facility in E17, where you work alongside the hardware your software drives, plus time on MicroFactory sites where it runs, • Share options so we all grow together, • High autonomy, high accountability, and a team of industry experts that takes the mission seriously, • #ownyourmission - we take responsibility and execute with focus and urgency., • #forpeopleandplanet - we strive to do the best for people and planet., • #buildtogether - we succeed through deep collaboration with our team, partners and customers., • #gooddesign - we centre good design in everything we do, holistically., • #beboldberadical - we think creatively; we are ambitious, bold and radical. We expect the full hiring process to take around 4-5 weeks, and we aim to be as transparent as possible throughout. • Initial Application - a human will review your CV & full application, • Hiring Manager Call (30-45 mins, remote) - with Tom d'Arcy (Head of Robotics & Deployment), • Task-based Working Session & Values Interview (60-90 mins, in-person) - you'll be given a real AUAR challenge to tackle in your own time and present to a panel of AUAR team members. We'll also discuss our Values., • Final Founder Interview (30 mins, in-person) - with Gilles Retsin (CTPO & Co-founder), • Offer This is a London role, 5 days a week in our E17 office. You'll need the right to work in the UK. We can sponsor visas if you're a standout candidate. If this is a fit, tell us, we'd rather hear from you than not. We're proud that 50% of our technical team and 50% of our leadership are women. We're building a team as diverse as the communities we serve. If you see a part of this role that excites you, even if you don't meet 100% of the criteria, we encourage you to apply. Let us make housing better, together. We are committed to creating an equitable, inclusive and diverse workplace. We intend to run an equal, fair and inclusive hiring process. If you feel there is any area we could improve, please let us know at . #J-18808-Ljbffr
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