Automation Control Engineer Electronics

Automation Control Engineer (Electronics)
Automation Control Engineer (Electronics, Firmware and Software)
Location: Reading, RG30 1DZ
Contract type: Permanent
Working hours: Mon-Fri 9:00 am to 5:30 pm
Salary: £30-50K depending on experience, plus share options
About BigSis
BigSis is a fast-growing UK start-up that provides chemical-free insect control to farmers. Central to the BigSis business model is its innovative approach of automated individualised insect rearing and processing, which ensures that it can scale output reliably by replication.
The company has two sites in Reading and employs over 30 staff. BigSis was named by Bloomberg UK as one of 25 ‘startups to watch’ in October 2023 and has a Glassdoor rating of 5 out of 5.
We look to attract candidates who can demonstrate behaviours in sync with our company values:
• Spirit – Having innovation, team and fighting spirit!
• Fluid – Working in a flexible way and being open to change
• Trustworthy – Includes honesty, integrity, respect and being approachable
• Growth mindset – Learn and grow & embrace challenges
• Succeeding together – Collaborate and celebrate success together
Purpose and responsibilities:
• The Automation Control Engineer will join a fast-growing team and make an important contribution to the development of BigSis automated micro-production systems.
• This will be a challenging hands-on role that combines embedded electronics design, programming, computer vision, artificial intelligence and control of hardware to deliver state-of-the-art control for the micro-production systems, running on single board computers such as Raspberry Pi, Asus Tinker Edge R, or other similar hardware.
• Given the time pressures of a start-up, the chosen person must be able to deliver ‘good enough’ software solutions as a priority and then work to refine the system.
Qualifications and experience:
Essential:
• 2:1 degree in a relevant electronics, computer science, robotics or other engineering discipline
• Relevant design experience in a similar role
• Hands-on experience with embedded electronics, sensors, and microcontrollers, including design and PCB layout
• Experience in image recognition, processing and filtering
• Python/C coding and previous use of embedded microcontrollers/IDEs/single board computers, e.g. Raspberry Pi
• Solution-orientated with an ability to think outside the box
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced start-up environment
Desirable :
• Good understanding of good software coding practice for embedded systems
• Experience with AI accelerators, PyTorch, Tensorflow, OpenCV, Linux, neural network modelling
• Experience of multithreading/parallel processing of multiple streams/images on Arm Cortex processors
• Design of control software for low-power automated systems and/or equipment, e.g. animatronics, vending machines or kitchen appliances
• Experience in controlling stepper motors, servo motors, and automatic material handling systems
• Experience with gcode programming
• Experience of cloud-based software solutions
• Project management skills or certification
• Design and assembly of electronic circuits, electrical panels and/or PCBs, 3D printing
• Work in an environment with hygiene and/or regulatory requirements, such as the food, cosmetics or medical sectors
Personal attributes:
To thrive in the unstructured and fast-changing environment of a start-up, important personal qualities are:
• Energy, ambition and commitment to ensure the job gets done
• Honesty, integrity and openness to ensure we build a great company culture
• Flexibility to changes in priorities and adaptability to new ideas
• Excellent communication skills
• Accelerates in a fast-paced fun environment and works well under pressure
You need to be comfortable working with live insects, including spending time in the hot and humid insect storage/growth area. Insects and their growth cells are very small, so you need good fine work skills.
Application process:
To be considered for this role, please send a CV and cover letter explaining why you think you are the right person for this job. Please include information about your education, work experience and current salary.
You may have experience in the following: Alternative job titles for an Automation Control Engineer may include Control Systems Engineer, Process Control Engineer, Automation Engineer, PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) Engineer, Instrumentation and Control Engineer, Robotics Engineer, Industrial Automation Engineer, Systems Integration Engineer.
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