Research Engineer / Postdoctoral Engineer – Physical AI, Embedded Systems & Robotics

Company Overview

PPS develops advanced tactile and pressure sensing technologies for robotics, medical devices, automotive systems, ergonomics and emerging Physical AI applications.

PPS works with many of the world's leading technology and engineering companies, including major organisations in consumer electronics, robotics, automotive and healthcare.

PPS UK was established in partnership with the University of Strathclyde and acts as a major R&D centre for the international PPS group. We are a small, highly technical and entrepreneurial team developing sensing systems that combine novel electronics, embedded firmware, software and AI.

We are now expanding our work in Physical AI and robotic manipulation and are looking for an exceptional engineer or postdoctoral researcher to help develop the next generation of multimodal data-capture technology.

The Role

You will work on a new Physical AI data-capture platform for robotics and manipulation.

The system combines tactile sensing, IMUs, embedded electronics, firmware, vision, precise time synchronisation and AI. The role spans hardware, software and machine learning, so we are looking for someone comfortable working across disciplines and turning ideas into working prototypes.

Typical work may include embedded firmware, electronics and sensor integration, C/C++/C# or Python development, real-time data acquisition, camera integration, synchronisation, and analysis of multimodal datasets.

What You Will Work On

You will contribute to areas including:

• Embedded electronics, firmware and sensor interfaces

• Tactile, inertial and vision data acquisition

• Precise timestamping and synchronisation

• USB, Ethernet and wireless communications

• Windows, Linux, MacOS multi-platform software development

• Camera and computer vision integration

• AI/ML analysis of multimodal data

• Dataset generation for robotics and Physical AI

• Prototype development and customer trials

Essential Experience

We are looking for a highly capable engineer with strong fundamentals and the ability to learn quickly.

You should have:

• A PhD, or equivalent industrial R&D experience, in a relevant engineering or computing discipline

• Strong programming skills in C/C++, C# and/or Python

• Experience with embedded systems, electronics or instrumentation

• Experience working with sensors or data-acquisition systems

• Good understanding of hardware/software integration

• Professional software-development and version-control experience

• Strong problem-solving and communication skills

Desirable Experience

Experience in several of the following would be valuable:

• Embedded C/C++

• C#, Swift and .NET development

• Microcontrollers and real-time systems

• PCB development

• IMUs and inertial sensing

• Computer vision and OpenCV

• Machine learning, deep learning or PyTorch

• Robotics and ROS/ROS 2

• Linux

• High-speed or distributed data acquisition

• Multimodal datasets

• Cloud or mobile software

We do not expect candidates to have experience in every area. Technical breadth, strong fundamentals and the ability to learn quickly are more important than matching a fixed technology list.

The Person We Are Looking For

This role will suit someone who enjoys practical R&D and wants to work across electronics, firmware, software and AI.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can work independently, solve difficult technical problems and take concepts through to working systems.

This could suit a strong postdoctoral researcher looking to move into industrial R&D while continuing to work on challenging problems in sensing, robotics and Physical AI.

Why Join PPS?

PPS develops advanced tactile sensing technology for major international customers and is expanding into Physical AI and robotic manipulation.

You will join at an early stage of this programme and have substantial influence over the architecture and direction of the technology.

Location

The role is based in Glasgow and involves significant hands-on hardware development, so regular in-person working is required.

Right to Work

Applicants must have the appropriate right to work in the UK.

Pay: £40,000.00-£70,000.00 per year

Education:

• PhD (preferred)

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (required)

Location:

• Glasgow G1 1RD (preferred)

Work Location: In person