Robotics Research Engineer - Machine Learning

We are on a mission to transform the future of grocery retail through sustained technology innovation.”

Ocado Technology is putting the world’s retailers online using advanced artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, the cloud and IoT. We develop the innovative software and hardware systems that power Ocado.com, as well as the unique ‘Ocado Smart Platform’ which is being implemented by ambitious retailers across the world from Europe to America, Asia and beyond. With everything from websites to highly automated warehouses that we design in-house, our employees are skilled specialists with expertise across a wide range of technologies, working on cutting-edge innovations that are shaping the future of our society.

We are a fast- growing company: today we have colleagues in 7 development centre across the UK and Europe, with offices open in London, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City (UK), Krakow, Wroclaw (Poland), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Barcelona (Spain), with a satellite office in Stockholm (Sweden).

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.

About our team..

As part of our Advanced Technology division, our talented robotics engineering teams are working to automate physical processes that require sensing and judgement through the use of robotics and machine vision.

Currently, our focus is on robotic pick - using sensors and robotic arms to pick customers’ orders. We are proud to say this is already live at our customer fulfilment centre based in Erith, but there is still much work to be done to streamline and harden the system for widespread deployment across all of our sites. We need gifted researchers and engineers to help us optimise the throughput of the system, and to enhance the system’s functionality so we can take our robotics products to the next level.

By using what we have learnt from the development of our robotic pick, we have been able to create even more cutting edge products, such as robotic decant and advanced guidance for AGVs which help us to move pallets of stock and completed orders through our CFCs.

Our division is growing, and so we need great software engineers and roboticists of varied levels of experience to join us, forge a great team together, and drive the advancement of revolutionary robotics and automation.

What will you do?

• You will be developing machine learning control algorithms for compliant robot manipulators. 

• Driving the development and application of machine learning methods to robot control problems.
• Working in compliant manipulation tasks for grocery picking and packing. 
• Integrating multiple sensing sources (camera, tactile, force-torque, sound, etc..) into torque controllable robots. 
• Aim to use this platform in a programming-by-demonstration (via teleoperation) framework, with online learning/adaptation, to learn control policies to perform compliant manipulation tasks.
• Explore the application of deep learning and other traditional machine learning methods. 

We'd like to hear from you if you have…

• Deep learning control: on a physical robot.
• Asymptotic stability of dynamical systems (Lyapunov stability theory)
• Application to deep learning, but not necessary
• Online learning 
• Adaptation
• Reinforcement learning
• Programming-by-demonstration

We are particularly interested in people who have studied the question of interpretability of deep models, data efficiency and convergence guarantees.

• A PhD/Postdoc in robotics or machine learning which covers a range of the above mentioned topics.
• Experience using machine learning with applications to a physical robot.

Bonus points if you have…

• Familiarity with traditional computer vision methods.
• Software engineering skills: ability to write reusable and clean code.
• Experience developing on Linux.
• Test driven development.

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. Within our flexible environment we can offer technically stretching work, a competitive salary and share schemes. Benefits include pension scheme, train season ticket loan (interest-free), free shuttle bus from Hatfield train station and of course, healthy Ocado retail staff discounts. 

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

We are thrilled to welcome applicants from across the world. Please note that unfortunately we are unable to cover the cost of your visa at this time. We do cover the relevant company costs for visa sponsorship. For all employment offers made for UK roles, it is expected that you will be based in the UK in commutable distance, ready for your first day of work, so please keep this in mind. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. 

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. 

Please note: 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. 

Be bold, be unique, be brilliant, be you. We are looking for individuality and we value diversity above gender, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, age, disability or union participation. We are an equal opportunities employer and we are committed to treating all applicants and employees fairly and equally.