Senior Robotics Engineer

Job Description

Overview

At AtkinsRéalis Nuclear, we’re using digital technology to help address some of the nuclear sector’s most complex challenges, from modernising infrastructure and enhancing safety to supporting the transition to low-carbon energy.

Our Digital Products and Technology (DP&T) team works collaboratively with clients to develop secure, scalable solutions that bring together robotics, IoT, perception and engineering data.

We’re looking for a Senior Robotics Engineer to help shape, develop and deploy robotic and perception systems that generate valuable insights and support autonomous operations in complex engineering environments.

You’ll work across mobile robotics, ROS2, autonomous navigation, computer vision, sensor integration and edge deployment, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to turn complex challenges into safe, reliable and maintainable solutions with real-world impact.

This is an opportunity to contribute across the full robotics lifecycle, from understanding the problem and shaping the technical approach through to integration, testing, field deployment and continuous improvement. As a senior member of the team, you’ll also have opportunities to share your expertise, support the development of others and help shape good engineering practice across our robotics capabilities.

Your role

As a Senior Robotics Engineer, you’ll bring your technical experience and engineering judgement to the development of robotics and perception solutions that can operate safely and reliably in real-world environments.

You’ll:

• Develop and integrate mobile robotic systems, creating and maintaining ROS2-based software in Linux environments and integrating robotic platforms with cameras, LiDAR, depth sensors, edge computing hardware and other payloads.
• Shape autonomous navigation capabilities, working with Nav2 or similar technologies across localisation, mapping, path planning, waypoint navigation, mission execution and autonomous exploration.
• Support safe and reliable robotic operation, developing and validating capabilities such as obstacle detection, collision avoidance, safe rerouting, no-go zones and appropriate operator controls.
• Develop computer vision and perception solutions, translating operational and user needs into effective pipelines spanning image processing, deep learning, 3D perception, scene reconstruction and spatial reasoning.
• Integrate multimodal data, combining 2D and 3D sensor information to support navigation, inspection, mapping, change detection, object detection and situational awareness.
• Develop solutions for real-world deployment, using containerisation, edge computing and appropriate acceleration technologies while supporting reliable and secure communication between robots, edge devices and connected systems.
• Lead testing and continuous improvement, troubleshooting across hardware, software, sensors, middleware, networks and field environments, while contributing to automated testing, CI/CD and robust engineering practices.
• Collaborate and share your expertise, supporting field trials and client deployments, documenting solutions and helping colleagues develop their knowledge through technical discussions, reviews and knowledge sharing.

You may also contribute to JavaScript-based APIs, dashboards and operator-facing tools, helping make complex robotics capabilities accessible and useful to the people working with them.

About you

We’re looking for someone with strong foundations in robotics and autonomous systems who enjoys solving complex problems, sharing their expertise and working collaboratively with others.

You don’t need to have worked with every technology we use. What’s important is that you bring the depth of experience needed to make sound technical decisions, explore different approaches and help guide solutions from development through to deployment.

You may thrive in this role if you:

• Have strong practical experience developing and integrating mobile robotics or autonomous systems, including hands-on experience with ROS2 and Linux-based environments.
• Have experience with autonomous navigation, using Nav2 or similar approaches across areas such as localisation, mapping, path planning, mission execution and safe navigation.
• Are confident developing in Python and/or C++ and have experience with relevant robotics, computer vision or perception tools such as PyTorch, OpenCV or Open3D.
• Have experience developing computer vision and perception solutions, which could include object detection, segmentation, image processing, 3D perception, scene reconstruction, spatial reasoning or multimodal sensor fusion.
• Understand how robotic systems bring together software, sensors, middleware, networks and hardware, and enjoy investigating complex challenges across these areas.
• Have experience with modern engineering practices such as Git, containerisation, automated testing and CI/CD, and value creating maintainable, well-tested and clearly documented solutions.
• Bring strong collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to share technical ideas clearly, support colleagues and work effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience with areas such as DDS and ROS2 communication, edge acceleration, CUDA, TensorRT, cloud-connected robotics, telemetry or JavaScript-based integration would be valuable, but we don’t expect one person to bring experience in every area.
• You may also bring experience with emerging technologies such as NeRFs, Gaussian Splatting, NVIDIA Omniverse, Unity or Unreal, or knowledge of model explainability, open-source licensing or CI/CD-based testing of robotics and machine learning pipelines. These are helpful additions rather than essential requirements.
• Most importantly, we’re looking for someone who is curious, collaborative and thoughtful in their approach, who enjoys sharing their knowledge and who wants to help us develop robotics solutions that are safe, reliable and valuable in real-world engineering environments.

Rewards & benefits

Explore the rewards and benefits that help you thrive – at every stage of your life and your career. Enjoy competitive salaries, employee rewards and a brilliant range of benefits you can tailor to suit your own health, wellbeing, financial and lifestyle choices. Make the most of a myriad of opportunities for training and professional development to grow your skills and expertise. And combine our hybrid working culture and flexible holiday allowances to balance a great job and fulfilling personal life.

Rewards and benefits – Careers at AtkinsRéalis

About AtkinsRéalis

We're AtkinsRéalis, a world-class engineering services and nuclear organization. We connect people, data and technology to transform the world's infrastructure and energy systems. Together, with our industry partners and clients, and our global team of consultants, designers, engineers and project managers, we can change the world. We're committed to leading our clients across our various end markets to engineer a better future for our planet and its people.

Find out more.

Additional information

Security clearance

This role may require security clearance and offers of employment will be dependent on obtaining the relevant level of clearance. If this is necessary, it will be discussed with you at interview. The vetting process is delivered by United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) and may require candidates to provide proof of residency in the UK of 5 years or longer. If applying to this role please do not make reference to (in conversation) or include in your application or CV, details of any current or previously held security clearance.

We are committed to creating a culture where everyone feels that they belong - a place where we can all be ourselves, thrive and develop to be the best we can be. So, we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and employee resource groups to support all employees. As an Equal Opportunities Employer, we value applications from all backgrounds, cultures and ability. As a Disability Confident Leader, we are committed to offering an interview to all applicants who have a disability and meet the essential criteria. If you would like to be considered under this commitment, please let us know at the application stage.

Worker Type

Employee

Job Type

Regular

At AtkinsRéalis, we seek to hire individuals with diverse characteristics, backgrounds and perspectives. We strongly believe that world-class talent makes no distinctions based on gender, ethnic or national origin, sexual identity and orientation, age, religion or disability, but enriches itself through these differences.