Test Engineer, Embedded Robotics

Location

On site, Guildford, England

Summary

As a Test Engineer, Embedded Robotics, you own the testing infrastructure and verification pipeline for our mobile robotics systems. You will design and implement tests at every level—unit, integration, system—and build the CI/CD rigs that run them automatically across Software-in-the-Loop (SITL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) environments. You are the last line of defense before software reaches physical robots, and you will build the tooling and processes to make that gate trustworthy and fast.

Duties

• Design, implement, and maintain test suites (unit, integration, system-level) for embedded C++ applications and services running on linux-based robotics platforms
• Architect and operate SITL environments that validate software against simulated robot dynamics, sensors, and mission scenarios
• Architect and operate HITL test rigs that exercise real embedded hardware, peripherals, and communication buses under automated control
• Build and maintain the CI/CD pipeline in Jenkins—from commit trigger through build, flash, test execution, result collection, and reporting
• Design and manage multi-site test fixture infrastructure, ensuring consistent and reliable test execution across geographically distributed offices
• Define and enforce test coverage standards, entry/exit criteria, and quality gates for release readiness
• Triage test failures, distinguish flaky infrastructure issues from genuine regressions, and drive root-cause resolution with development engineers
• Continuously improve test execution speed, reliability, and diagnostic clarity across the entire pipeline

Required Skills

• Strong proficiency in C++ (11 and up) with the ability to read, instrument, and write test harnesses for embedded codebases
• Deep hands-on experience with test frameworks (Google Test, Catch2, or equivalent)
• Proven experience building and administering Jenkins pipelines—multi-branch, parameterized builds, distributed agents, artifact management
• Practical experience standing up and operating SITL environments (Gazebo, AirSim, jMAVSim, or comparable simulation tooling)
• Practical experience designing and wiring HITL test rigs—interfacing real embedded targets with automated test orchestration
• Strong knowledge of networking, serial protocols, and the practical realities of connecting real hardware to CI infrastructure
• Proficiency as a user and administrator of Ubuntu 18+
• Comfortable with infrastructure-as-code tooling for provisioning and maintaining test environments (Docker, Ansible, Terraform, or similar)
• Experience managing distributed test infrastructure across multiple physical sites—handling latency, hardware inventory, remote access, and fixture consistency

Nice to Have

• Prior experience in a mobile robotics or aerospace test environment (UAV, UGV, USV)
• Experience with MAVLink, ROS/ROS2, or similar robotics middleware
• Familiarity with hardware test instrumentation (power supplies, logic analyzers, CAN/serial sniffers) in an automated context
• Prior experience with additional CI/CD platforms (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Travis)
• Experience with test management and defect tracking tooling at scale