Director of Quality Innovation

Director of Engineering – Autonomous Robotics Company Location: London, UK (Hybrid) We are partnering with a Venture-Backed Autonomous Robotics company to appoint a Director of Engineering. The company is developing next-generation robotic and AI-driven automation systems designed for complex industrial environments, with applications spanning logistics, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. Backed by several leading European and US deep-tech investors, the business has recently completed a successful Series A funding round and is now scaling both its engineering capability and commercial deployments across the UK and mainland Europe. Founded by a highly technical leadership team with backgrounds in robotics, autonomy, and machine learning, the company has already established early enterprise partnerships and is rapidly emerging as one of the most exciting businesses within the UK robotics ecosystem. This is a senior engineering leadership role responsible for leading the company’s multidisciplinary engineering function across robotics software, autonomy, embedded systems, controls, and hardware integration. Working closely with the founders and executive team, the successful candidate will play a critical role in shaping technical strategy, driving product delivery, and scaling engineering operations as the company transitions from early-stage development into wider commercial deployment. Engineering Leadership & Technical Strategy Lead and scale the engineering organisation across robotics, autonomy, controls, embedded software, and systems engineering Establish scalable engineering processes, product development standards, and delivery frameworks Drive technical excellence across robotics architecture, reliability, deployment, and system performance Partner closely with founders on long-term product and technology direction. Lead technical decision-making across robotics software, perception, controls, embedded systems, and systems integration Ensure engineering execution meets commercial timelines, safety requirements, and operational performance standards Collaborate cross-functionally with product, operations, and commercial leadership teams. Proven engineering leadership experience within a high-growth robotics, automation, or deep-tech startup Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams Track record of delivering complex technical products from development through deployment. Hybrid working model with 2–3 days per week in the office Occasional travel across Europe for customer and partner engagements This is a unique opportunity for an ambitious engineering leader to join a venture-backed robotics business at a formative stage of growth. You will play a defining role in shaping the company’s technical direction, scaling the engineering organisation, and helping establish the business as a category leader within autonomous robotics and intelligent industrial automation.