Robotics Design Engineer

We are seeking a full-time Robotics Design Engineer to join our team at Oxford Robotics Institute (ORI), an independent institute within the Dept of Engineering Science in central Oxford. This is a technical role in support of existing research activities as led by our academics. The post is fixed-term to May 30th, 2027 in the first instance.

A recent winner of The Queen’s Anniversary Prize for innovation in autonomous robotic technologies, the ORI is a diverse and collaborative community composed of researchers, engineers, and students all united in our drive to transform what robots can do for us. Our current interests are diverse – from flying to grasping, from inspection to running, from haptics to driving, from exploring to planning. We are the only group in the UK that specialises in large-scale mobile autonomy - both indoors and outdoors. We validate our thinking and challenge ourselves by deploying robotic systems in real application environments.

As the successful candidate, you will have professional experience developing complex electro-mechanical hardware and systems integration to create working prototypes. You may be comfortable working with software such as Linux, ROS, Python etc. You will be part of a diverse team who are responsible for designing, building, programming, testing, and maintaining a large fleet of robots and systems.

The scope of the role spans the entire concept-to-deployment process. You will work closely with the ORI academics and researchers to support their projects such as developing long term autonomy, adapting wheeled and legged robots to navigate challenging environments, and developing bespoke electronic designs. As part of the engineering team, you can be called upon to provide L2/L3 hardware support for the MSc in Autonomous Robotics course. You will have the opportunity to provide hardware support during field trials; working with on-site teams to oversee robotic platforms from both a technical and health and safety standpoint. For more information about the ORI, please see: ori.ox.ac.uk

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Chris Prahacs (email: chris.prahacs@eng.ox.ac.uk)

The Department holds an Athena Swan Bronze award, highlighting its commitment to promoting women in Science, Engineering and Technology. For more information about working at the Department, please see: www.eng.ox.ac.uk/about/work-with-us/.

Only applications received before midday on 5th May 2026 can be considered. You will be required to upload a covering letter/supporting statement, (describing how past experience fit with the advertised position), CV and the details of two referees as part of your online application.

Keywords: Field robotics, design, hardware, FEA, SolidWorks, Python, ROS2, mechatronics, autonomous, research, quadruped, embedded, programming, prototyping, nuclear, PCB, microcontroller