ROBOTICS ENGINEER – BEHAVIOUR AND PLANNING
Location: Cambridge, UK. Hybrid with regular on-site work.
Salary: £80,000 – £100,000 plus equity.
Overview
An early-stage autonomy company is hiring a Founding Robotics Engineer to build the behaviour and planning layer of a multi-robot autonomy system.
The role focuses on how robotic teams plan, coordinate, and execute actions in uncertain, dynamic environments.
You will own the logic that translates mission objectives into executable behaviour across a fleet of robots.
This is a founding-level role with direct influence over system architecture and roadmap direction.
Role Responsibilities
You own the full behaviour and planning stack, from strategic task planning to action execution.
Key responsibilities include:
• Design and implementation of multi-agent task planning systems.
• Development of behaviour managers that translate plans into executable actions.
• Integration of motion planners and navigation stacks across heterogeneous robots.
• Definition of hierarchical interfaces between strategic planning and physical execution.
• Use of symbolic planning abstractions such as PDDL where appropriate.
• Implementation of geometric reasoning and feasibility checks for safe execution.
• Close collaboration with Perception and Systems teams to align world models and behaviours.
• Contribution to autonomy architecture and the 12 to 15-month roadmap.
Note
This role does not involve implementing low-level PID or proportional controllers.
Technical Skillset
The ideal candidate brings:
• Strong background in robotic planning and decision-making.
• Experience spanning high-level task planning and motion planning.
• Familiarity with reinforcement learning concepts for decision-making under uncertainty.
• Extensive hands-on experience with ROS 2, Nav2, MoveIt, or similar frameworks.
• Experience using simulation environments such as Isaac Lab, Gazebo, MuJoCo, or SAPIEN.
• Strong C++ and Python skills suitable for production systems.
Profile and Mindset
This role suits someone who:
• Enjoys designing systems that reason several steps ahead.
• Is comfortable working with uncertainty and partial information.
• Prefers system-level thinking over narrow optimisation problems.
• Values collaboration, humility, and technical rigour.
• Wants ownership of behaviour that directly impacts real robotic missions.
Working Style and Expectations
• Founding-level ownership and responsibility.
• Significant influence on architecture and planning philosophy.
• Regular on-site collaboration in Cambridge.
• Small, highly technical team with fast feedback cycles.
Compensation and Upside
• Competitive base salary.
• Equity aligned with early contribution.
• Opportunity to define how robotic teams plan and act in real-world environments.