UK - Simulation Software Engineer

Job Title: Simulation Software Engineer

Reports to: Head of Engineering

Location: Bristol (hybrid)

Type: Full time - permanent

Security Clearance requirement: Applicants must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).

Role Overview

We are building a reusable kinetic interceptor UAS designed to physically collide with its target and return to base. We are looking for a Simulation Software Engineer to build and own our high-performance testing infrastructure.

This is a multi-faceted role offering end-to-end ownership of the full simulation pipeline.

You will integrate our physics models into modern simulation ecosystems (such as Unreal Engine 5 or NVIDIA Omniverse / Isaac Sim) to build high-fidelity test environments. Working closely with our Robotics, Perception, Aero, and Data engineers, you will architect the backend infrastructure required to run automated large-scale cloud testing and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) pipelines.

Your core objective is to drastically accelerate our development cycles, ensuring our hardware

and software are continuously validated before a vehicle ever leaves the ground.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain photorealistic virtual environments, owning the architectural choice and execution across engines like Unreal Engine 5 or NVIDIA Omniverse / Isaac Sim.
• Use modern techniques like NeRFs and Gaussian Splatting (based on real flight test footage) to create 1-to-1 digital twins of our test sites.
• Work directly with the Perception team to simulate complex thermal/IR sensors and automate synthetic data generation (SDG) pipelines.
• Containerize the simulation (Docker) and build the backend infrastructure for cloud deployment, enabling the Data/ML and Aero teams to run thousands of headless, multi-agent scenarios simultaneously.
• Work closely with the Robotics Engineering team to connect the simulation to real hardware configurations (HIL), ensuring the sim runs against actual flight controllers to validate sensor-to-actuator latency.
• Collaborate with the Aero engineer to seamlessly ingest flight dynamics physics models (FDM) into the simulation engine without compromising execution speed.
• Develop frontend UI tools for the engineering team to visualize telemetry, scrub through data replays, and visually debug complex intercept failures.

Required Experience

• Strong modern C++ and Python programming skills.
• Production experience with advanced simulation or real-time 3D engines at a systems/graphics programming level (e.g., NVIDIA Omniverse / Isaac Sim, Unreal Engine, O3DE, Unity, or custom renderers).
• Deep understanding of ROS 2 and DDS architectures, including cross-architecture deployability and strict QoS timing constraints.
• Familiarity with High-Performance Computing (HPC), NVIDIA GPU acceleration, and hardware optimization (e.g., CUDA, TensorRT).
• Native fluency in Linux, Docker, and CI/CD pipelines-you know how to deploy and scale headless simulations unattended.
• Experience building or supporting Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) / Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) benches.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with 3D modeling tools (like Blender) to rapidly generate or modify target assets for the Perception team.
• Specific experience with NVIDIA Replicator or other automated synthetic data generation frameworks.
• Background in autonomous vehicles, aerospace, robotics, or motorsport simulation.
• Familiarity with bridging external physics solvers (MATLAB/Simulink, JSBSim) into real-time environments.
• Attributes & Mindset
• Analytical, practical, and comfortable solving complex technical problems.
• Able to balance simulation fidelity with development speed and engineering need.
• Comfortable working across software, simulation infrastructure, and physical-system behavior.
• Curious and data-driven, with a focus on using simulation to improve real-world system performance.
• Adaptable & Resilient: Stays calm and focused under pressure, adapting their approach as challenges arise.
• Proactive, collaborative, and comfortable working with multiple engineering disciplines in a small, tight-knit team.

Security and Eligibility Requirement

• Due to the nature of the work with the UK MOD, applicants must be a British Citizen (or Dual UK national with British citizenship) and eligible for UK Security Clearance (SC)

General Information

We believe in the value of working together in person and expect team members to be office-based for the majority of the working week. At the same time, we take a flexible pragmatic approach to working patterns, including start and finish times and remote working, to support a healthy work-life balance while meeting the needs of the team and project.

We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team where everyone is treated with respect and has the opportunity to contribute and succeed. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are focused on creating a working environment where different perspectives, experiences and ideas are valued