We are made up of a dynamic and vibrant community focused on solving challenging long-term marine science problems, underpinning international and UK public policy, business and societal outcomes.
The ocean has the potential to provide the solutions to so many of the social, economic and environmental challenges we face worldwide. To truly harness the value of the ocean, we put ocean research, science and discovery at the heart of our culture.
Join us in shaping the future of oceanographic research and contribute your unique perspective to our organization.
About the role
The Marine Autonomous and Robotic Systems Group at the NOC operates an extensive fleet of Marine Autonomous Systems (MAS) to support the UK Oceanographic community and other partners. The fleet comprises of a mixture of Underwater Gliders, Long Range Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), Work Class AUV Autosub5 and Remotely Operated Vehicles. Each of our four class of vehicles has an associated engineering manager and operationally focused team of technicians/engineers who: maintain, prepare and operate the equipment at sea.
Our Autosub AUVs have seen significant recent success operating:
- Under ice in Antarctica;
- Monitoring the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining in the Pacific;
- Surveying marine protected areas around the coast of the UK;
- Undertaking multi-week operations operating shore to shore e.g. surveying from Iceland to Scotland.
To support this success into the future we are expanding our pool of AUV technicians/engineers. This post will be based in the Autosub5 team but is expected to support Autosub5 and Autosub Long Range operations.
Expectations of role:
As an AUV operations engineer (software) the successful candidate will be a practical engineer who is also willing to undertake most aspects of AUV operations including piloting, maintenance, troubleshooting, and fieldwork. This is an operational role, and the successful candidate will be required to support AUV field work both from shore (appropriate overtime payments will be provided) and onboard Research Vessels (sea-time allowance provided). The post holder will use their software skills to commission IT infrastructure and integrate new bespoke sensors into the Autosubs working closely with the MARS software development teams.
About you
You will have completed a degree in a relevant discipline or have related experience in instrumentation or autonomous vehicles. You will ideally have experience in the use of scientific marine instrumentation with a strong track record of solving engineering problems. A knowledge of the Linux operating system and software development experience would be an advantage. Practical experience with geospatial datasets and proficiency in utilizing applications such as ArcGIS, QGIS, and GeoServer are highly desirable. This expertise would be particularly valuable in preparing for the deployment of our MAS fleet, enabling effective utilization of geospatial data to inform operational decisions. A working knowledge of AUVs or gliders would be highly desirable.
We are particularly interested to discuss this role with candidates with either:
- Knowledge of ROS, the C++ programming language, software lifecycle and development best practice are desirable to effectively collaborate with developers of the AUVs control system.
- Knowledge of modern web development best practices, including microservice architecture and the publish–subscribe pattern, is highly desirable. Proficiency in languages such as Python and JavaScript (Vue.js), as well as experience with technologies like Postgres, Docker, and Kubernetes, would be a significant asset in collaborating with our Command and Control development team.
- You should be interested and willing to broaden and enhance your skills as required to meet the requirements of the team. There will also be opportunities to work with the MARS development teams to enhance the capabilities of the ALR and marine robotic systems more broadly.
- You must be looking for a role that will take you out of the office/lab as the successful applicant will be required to spend periods (weeks) at sea or supporting shore-based deployments.
Salary: £42,062
Application deadline: June 6, 2025
