“We are on a mission: to transform the future of online grocery through cutting-edge technology innovation.”

Who are we?

Ocado Technology is the “engine room” that powers Ocado Retail, the world’s largest online-only grocery retailer. We have developed this underpinning technology to the point of maturity such that we now offer it as a commodity to other retailers worldwide. But we are not ready to stop here, we are still pioneering new technologies and techniques in order to continuously improve the proposition we offer to the customers of our automation. One of the key strands of work contributing to our continuous improvement is our in-house research in robotic manipulation.

As part of our efforts to be in the vanguard of robotics research, we were previously involved in two European Union funded Horizon 2020 research projects with a number of leading European Universities:

• The SoMa project which was concerned with using inherently compliant robotic mechanisms in order to exploit environmental constraints to manipulate objects with a wide variety of properties in highly variable environments.
• Ocado was the project coordinator for SecondHands, the aim of which was to develop a robot that could act as an assistant to Ocado maintenance technicians because it is able to understand a technician's activity and pro-actively offer assistance in a timely manner, i.e. it could behave as a second pair of hands for the technician.

What would I be doing?
Building on the success of these projects we have recently secured further funding into cutting edge robotics research as members of three new consortia on the following Horizon Europe projects:

• The Intelliman project: the main objective of this project is to study how a robot can efficiently learn how to manipulate in a purposeful and highly effective way.
• The Sestosenso project: this project is developing new proximity and tactile sensing capabilities to enable the next generation of collaborative robots to self-adapt to time varying operational conditions.
• The SoftEnable projects: this project proposes a new framework for manipulation actions involving deformable delicate objects based on the notion of soft fixture-enabled manipulation primitives.

What are we looking for?

In order to deliver our commitments to these projects we are looking to hire a number of robotics research software engineers with strong 3D mathematical skills and experience of using them in the development of software in a number of the following domains:

• Programming by demonstration
• Learning by imitation
• Robot-environment interaction
• Robot motion planning including compliant motion
• Force/admittance/impedance control
• Bi-manual manipulation
• Whole arm manipulation
• Robot guidance from tactile perception
• Dextrous manipulation
• Multi-finger grasping
• Machine learning techniques used in the real time control of robotic manipulation
• Spatial occupancy and collision prediction/avoidance
• Sensor guided robot motions, particularly 3D vision guidance
• Structure from motion/3D reconstruction
• Implicit surfaces and level set methods

Please don't worry, this is not an exhaustive list. If you have experience of just a few of these we'd love to talk to you.

The primary programming languages are C/C++ and Python. Experience of systems integration is of particular interest especially using containerisation technologies like Docker.

We are looking for candidates with a PhD or post-graduate degree in a relevant area and a demonstrable track record of the ability to perform novel work in a cutting edge environment on challenging projects.

Our Values

We champion a value-led culture to get our teams working at their very best and to help create a collaborative working environment with inspiring projects that our people love. Core values of Trust, Autonomy, Craftsmanship, Collaboration and Learn Fast help drive our innovative culture. But don’t just take our word for it, have a look at what our people are saying about us on Glassdoor.

What we offer you

Our employee benefits are designed for you, we care about people and we’ve ensured we have a wealth of benefits that focus on your well-being. We regularly review our benefits to ensure we are supporting our employees appropriately. Currently, we offer technically stretching work, a competitive salary and;

• A Work from Home policy that sees you in the office typically 40% of your time.
• 30 days ‘working from anywhere’ policy
• Equity Plan (10-15% of salary) for eligible roles
• Wellbeing support through Apps such as Unmind and an Employee Assistance Programme
• 25 days annual leave, rising to 27 days after 5 years service (plus optional holiday purchase)
• Pension scheme (various options available including employer contribution matching up to 7%)
• Private Medical Insurance
• 22 weeks paid maternity leave and 6 weeks paid paternity leave (once relevant service requirements complete)
• Train Ticket loan (interest-free)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Free shuttle bus to and from Welwyn Garden City Train Station to the Welwyn Garden City offices
• Opportunity to participate in Sharesave and Buy as You Earn share schemes
• 15% discount on Ocado.com and free delivery for all employees
• Income Protection (can be up to 50% of salary for 3 years) and Life Assurance (3 x annual salary)

We also have regular divisional socials, sports clubs not to mention the Ocado Technology Academy for a packed schedule of courses, conferences and events. If you think you have what it takes to make a difference, please submit your application below.

Be bold, be unique, be brilliant, be you. We are looking for individuality and we value diversity. We are an equal opportunities employer and we are committed to treating all applicants and employees fairly and equally. We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to provide a positive, barrier-free recruitment process and supportive work environment. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of application.

Due to the energising nature of Ocado's business, vacancy close dates, when stated, are indicative and may be subject to change so please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. If you have applied and been rejected for this role in the last 6 months, or applied and been rejected for a role with a similar skill set, we will not re-evaluate you for this position. After 6 months, we will treat your application as a new one. All benefits information is subject to change and the terms of the individual arrangements. Please assume you have been unsuccessful if you haven’t heard from us within 4 weeks.