Head of Robotics Simulation

The Opportunity We are partnering with a high-growth, post-Series A Robotics pioneer that is transforming industrial manufacturing through intelligent, multi-armed autonomous robotic cells. Backed by premier European venture funds, this company is moving past traditional automation to tackle the complex, non-deterministic manual steps that global manufacturers struggle to scale. Our client have assembled a world class team of 45+ people from the likes of Amazon, Dyson, Harvard and Ocado and have been deploying robots since early 2025. As the Simulation Team Lead, reporting into the Head of Engineering you will build, mentor, and guide a multidisciplinary engineering team (currently a team of 4 needing to grow to circa 10) responsible for creating high-fidelity virtual environments. Your team's work directly drives AI training pipelines and robot behaviour validation, ensuring a seamless sim-to-real transfer for production environments running live on customer factory floors. What You’ll DoLead & Mentor: Manage a high-performing, outcome-driven team covering simulation, robotics, and graphics engineering. You will own hiring, career growth, and performance management, establishing a culture of rapid feedback and accountability.Technical Roadmap: Define and execute the simulation engineering roadmap, balancing ambitious technical architecture with practical operational reliability and customer impact.Sim-to-Real Validation: Drive the architecture of production-grade simulation systems that train and validate advanced robotic behaviours before they deploy to physical factory environments.Cross-Functional Collaboration: Communicate architectural decisions clearly across international, multidisciplinary teams including AI, hardware, and field deployment.Stay Technical: Remain hands-on enough to critically review PRs, debug deep within engine internals, and chip in high-leverage Python code when the team requires it. What You’ll NeedLeadership Experience: A proven track record of leading, mentoring, and scaling technical teams in robotics, physics-based simulation, or graphics/gaming engineering.Simulation Expertise: Hands-on mastery of modern simulation platforms (e.g., NVIDIA Isaac Sim / Isaac Lab, PhysX, Unreal, MuJoCo, or Gazebo) paired with experience building scenes via OpenUSD.Strong Software Fundamentals: Solid software engineering foundations in Python, with the architectural depth needed to deliver robust systems that scale in real-world production.Production Mentality: Experience owning delivery for technical systems that interact with real customers and operate reliably in unstructured or physical environments.Strong Communication: Excellent capabilities in translating complex physical and architectural concepts into decision-ready realities for cross-functional peers. If you believe the above description fits what you are looking for, then please click apply and we will be in touch with you as soon as we can.