Principal Robotics Architect

We have an exciting job opportunity for Principal Robotics Architect role at Glasgow, UK - Permanent

Role: Principal Robotics Architect

Duration: Permanent

Location: Glasgow, UK

Skills Required:

• Hardware Abstraction | Embedded C++ | ROS2 | Distributed Systems
• This is a platform-defining architecture position at the point where hardware, software, and AI converge.
• Right now, robotics systems are evolving from bespoke machines - scalable, software-defined platforms.

What You'll Actually Be Doing

You'll own the architecture that connects:

• Physical robotic systems
• Embedded control layers
• Cloud infrastructure
• AI-driven execution

At the centre of it all:

• You'll design a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) that allows a single instruction set to run across multiple generations of hardware.
• In simple terms - you make robotics programmable at scale.

You'll be solving:

• How to split decision-making between cloud vs edge
• How to guarantee safe execution under latency or failure
• How to run Real Time systems across distributed environments
• How to standardise control across non-uniform hardware
• How to turn physical systems into continuously updatable platforms

What Makes This Role Different

• You define the architecture - not inherit it
• True edge + cloud ownership - not siloed engineering
• Safety-critical systems - your decisions actually matter
• Greenfield direction - setting standards, not following them

What You'll Be Building

• A contract-first HAL separating hardware from software cleanly
• An event-driven control backbone (MQTT/NATS style systems)
• Edge-first execution models (cloud = intent, edge = action)
• Simulation + digital twin environments for safe testing at scale
• Modern Embedded pipelines (OTA updates, HIL testing, CI/CD)

What We're Looking For

• Deep Embedded C/C++ experience (8+ years)
• Background in robotics, automotive, aerospace, or industrial systems
• Strong experience with ROS2/DDS or similar frameworks

Comfortable across:

• Python
• APIs (REST/gRPC/GraphQL)
• Containers (Docker)
• Messaging systems (Kafka/NATS/RabbitMQ)
• You've designed systems where:
• Latency matters
• Failure has real-world consequences
• Software directly controls physical systems