South Archives | KO2 Recruitment

Electronic Test Engineer

Electronics Test Engineer

Yapton, West Sussex

Salary up to £50,000 per annual

The Role

Our client is an established and well-regarded manufacturer of electric drive systems and motor control solutions, serving industrial customers across the globe. Operating from their purpose-built UK manufacturing facility, they design and produce a comprehensive range of AC and DC motor control products across single-phase and three-phase applications, with power ratings reaching up to 1 megawatt. The business has been successfully developing innovative electromechanical solutions since the late 1980s and works with a broad network of distributors and systems integrators worldwide.

This is a permanent, full-time position based on-site at our client’s manufacturing facility in the South of England. The Test Engineer role is somewhat unusual in that it encompasses two quite distinct but equally important functions, both of which require genuine technical competence and attention to detail.

The first function relates to the technical development and validation of new products and product improvements during the design and prototype phases. During this stage, you will work closely with the electronics and firmware engineering teams to carry out what we might call development testing. This involves setting up and executing rigorous test protocols that allow the design team to verify that their circuits are performing as intended, to identify any issues that might emerge during integration of multiple boards and subsystems, to diagnose anomalies when they arise, and ultimately to support the engineers in iterating and refining the product design for performance and reliability. You will be hands-on, building test jigs and bespoke instrumentation where necessary, working with oscilloscopes and similar analytical equipment to understand what is happening at the component and board level, and feeding back clear technical observations that help the development team solve problems and optimise their designs.

The second function is rather more formal and procedurally structured, and relates to compliance and conformance testing. Once a product design has been finalised and is ready for market release, there are prescribed testing regimes that must be completed to satisfy various regulatory requirements and standards. These include testing to the Low Voltage Directive, EMC regulations, and UL/CSA compliance standards depending on the intended markets. This testing is more formalised, with defined test specifications, acceptance criteria, and detailed documentation requirements. You will be responsible for ensuring that products meet all applicable standards before they can be sold, and that the appropriate compliance records and certifications are in place.

The role requires someone who can move comfortably between these two different modes of working. The development testing demands creativity, problem-solving ability, and a collaborative approach. The compliance testing demands precision, methodical attention to procedure, and the ability to produce clear, accurate documentation.

Key Responsibilities

Plan, design and execute rigorous test protocols across the full range of operating conditions, including various load conditions, speed profiles and supply voltage scenarios
Design and commission test rigs, build custom instrumentation and automation solutions, and ensure all test equipment is properly calibrated
Carry out development phase testing on prototype boards and integrated systems, identify performance issues and anomalies, and work collaboratively with the design engineers to diagnose and resolve problems
Perform formal compliance and conformance testing against relevant standards including CE, UL/CSA and EMC requirements
Maintain day-to-day scheduling and prioritisation of test activities, managing the testing pipeline to support product timelines
Operate and troubleshoot a range of laboratory equipment including oscilloscopes, power analysers, load banks, programmable power supplies and similar analytical tools
Work safely and competently with three-phase electrical systems and high-power test equipment
Write clear, well-structured test procedures, test reports, and technical documentation that communicates findings to both engineering and commercial colleagues
Liaise across functions with Power Electronics engineers, Motor Control engineers, firmware teams and the manufacturing function
Contribute ideas for continuous improvement in test methodology, test cell capability and overall testing processes as the product range develops and grows

Experience and Skills Required

Proven hands-on experience testing motor drives, power electronics, AC-DC converters or similarly complex electromechanical systems in an R&D or manufacturing environment
Genuine competence with electrical test equipment including oscilloscopes, power analysers, load banks and programmable power supplies
Practical experience commissioning and calibrating test rigs, working safely with three-phase electrical power
Ability to write clear, logical test procedures and to produce detailed technical reports
Comfortable working across the electronics and firmware boundary, able to diagnose issues that involve both hardware and software
Strong communication skills and genuine ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams
Good organisational skills and ability to manage multiple testing priorities
Formal qualification in electrical engineering, electronic engineering or a closely related discipline (HNC, HND, BSc, BEng or MEng preferred)

Desirable

Specific experience with electric motor drive systems, particularly inverters or DC drives
Familiarity with compliance testing protocols and the standards landscape (CE, UL/CSA, EMC)
Experience designing or specifying bespoke test rigs, jigs or test automation solutions
Knowledge of product development cycles and design validation methodologies

Location and Package

Location: Yapton, West Sussex, on-site (this is a full-time, on-site role)

Salary: Up to £50,000 per annum, depending on experience and background

How to Apply

Please send your CV along with a covering note that tells us a bit about your most relevant testing experience, particularly any work you have done on power electronics or motor drive products. If you have a portfolio of test procedures, reports or technical documentation, feel free to reference that.

Senior Electronic Engineer

Senior Electronics Hardware Engineer
Torrington, North Devon | Hybrid: 3 days on site, 2 working from home

£55,000 to £65,000

There’s a particular sort of engineer we are after with this one, and if you’re the type who gets genuine satisfaction watching a schematic become a working board, and that board become a product trusted to keep a helicopter rotor balanced or an industrial turbine running true, then read on.

We are recruiting on behalf of a client of KO2’s, a genuinely international name in condition monitoring technology, with a growing team spread across sites in the UK and further afield in mainland Europe and the United States. Their work covers rotor track and balance for helicopters, condition monitoring for critical rotating industrial machinery, and precision accelerometers used in applications where failure is simply not an acceptable outcome. This isn’t a business dabbling at the fringes of aerospace and defence electronics, it’s one that’s built a proper reputation doing it properly, and doing it from a Torrington site that happens to sit within easy reach of some of North Devon’s finest coastline.

They now need a Senior Electronics Hardware Engineer to take genuine technical ownership of products from concept through to full production. You’ll be leading design work across analogue, digital, mixed signal and power electronics, getting properly hands on with schematic capture, PCB layout and technical documentation, and supporting the certification effort that comes with CE, UKCA, FCC and the relevant aerospace and defence standards. Alongside that there’s mentoring of junior engineers, involvement in value engineering to keep designs cost effective and manufacturable, and direct customer engagement where you’ll be trusted as a proper technical voice rather than someone wheeled out only when things go wrong.

On the practical side, our client is offering a salary of £55,000 to £65,000 depending on what you bring to the table, which for this part of Devon is a proper number and reflects the seniority they’re looking for.

Working pattern is hybrid, three days on site in Torrington and two from wherever suits you, and the flexi time arrangement on offer is genuinely more generous than most I come across. Core hours run 10am until 3pm, Monday to Thursday, with the ability to flex your Friday entirely, and beyond that hours can be balanced across the whole month rather than pinned to a rigid weekly total, so provided your hours are completed by month end there’s real room to manage your own week.

On top of that there’s 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, a pension, company sick pay, an Employee Assistance Programme, training and development that’s properly resourced rather than paid lip service, and, for those days when a bit of downtime between design reviews wouldn’t go amiss, an office fitted out with its own games room.

If you’re degree qualified in electronic engineering, or can show the equivalent through hard won industry experience in manufacturing, industrial, aerospace or defence environments, and this reads like a role with the technical depth and commercial relevance you’ve been after, I’d be glad to hear from you.

Get in touch with Laurence Powell or Andrew Knight at KO2 Embedded Recruitment today to apply!

Senior Software Architect

September 9, 2026/in South Permanent /by Chris Oddy

Senior Software Architect
Location: Royston, Hybrid Working from Home Available

Salary: Up to £90,000

KO2 is working with a well-established manufacturer of advanced, ruggedised electronic hardware, precision equipment built to perform reliably in demanding real-world conditions. A considerable body of software sits behind each product, running across multiple processing units, and the business is now seeking a Senior Software Architect to take ownership of the software vision and steer it forward.

This is a role of genuine scope, and it is worth being clear about what it is not. It is not an architect position where a set of requirements is handed over and the task is simply to work out how to deliver them. The business is looking for the person who defines how the entire software platform ought to look, across every component and including the data management strategy. You would be the technical figurehead the software team looks to, the person who sets the direction and brings colleagues with them.

The remit

The business runs two mature software platforms that developed separately, in different countries, performing much the same function but built in very different ways with very different front ends. The first task is to understand both in real depth: how they are constructed, why, and where the strengths and the liabilities lie. From there, you would decide the way forward. That may mean retaining what works and extending it, or it may mean concluding that a platform has reached the end of its useful life and defining a new one. That judgement, and the ability to argue it convincingly, sits at the heart of the role.

Alongside this you would:

Work closely with product management, together with the hardware and technology leads, to define the software portion of the roadmap and the shape of the platform’s future
Take on line management of the software team, and in time responsibility for software colleagues based in another country
Partner with a technical lead elsewhere to determine, on a global basis, what gets built and how
Engage directly with customers where appropriate, since a good deal of what shapes the software returns through the organisation from those using the product
Balance how much is exposed to the customer against how much is automated beneath the surface, so that the end user is well served with a product that is straightforward to use

The technical picture

The core of this role is C++ and C#. This is application software that controls a device, running on Windows, rather than embedded firmware development. One platform is built largely in C# with an amount of wrapped C carried over from earlier work. The other is predominantly C, with Qt and QML providing the interface layer. You would not be expected to have worked in all of these, and you would not be writing production code day to day. What is essential is a background that began in software engineering proper, writing code and progressing from there, because holding a software team to account and challenging how work has been approached is only credible from someone who has done the work themselves.

A working knowledge of industrial protocols such as OPC and the common field buses would be an advantage. With the European Cyber Resilience Act approaching, an architect who writes and thinks about code with security considered from the outset, rather than addressed after the fact, would be particularly valued.

The person

Technically excellent above all, with the standing to command the respect of an accomplished engineering team. Someone equally comfortable operating at senior level within the organisation and working alongside the development team. A capable communicator, able to take a customer requirement and translate it into something the software team can build, with a clear sense of what matters and what does not.

The international dimension is a significant part of the role. The business operates across the UK, Germany and beyond, so experience of working with teams in more than one country, and an understanding that working styles differ from place to place, would be a distinct advantage.

Finally, the business places real value on engineers who have seen a product through its full life cycle, from introduction through maturity to eventual retirement, and drawn the lessons from it. A history of frequent short tenures is unlikely to suit, as much of what makes this role effective is an appreciation of the long term consequences of the decisions taken.

The essentials

Salary up to £90,000 + Bonus
On site in Royston, Cambridge, three days per week. This is a collaborative role, and a fully remote arrangement is not available
Permanent, and intended as a long term appointment

To apply, please send your CV in confidence. You would be given the full details of the role, and would always know precisely which client you were being represented to before any application proceeded.

Andrew Knight, Director, KO2 Embedded Recruitment Solutions

Technical Product Development Manager

September 7, 2026/in South Permanent /by Chris Oddy

Role: Technical Product Development Manager – Consumer Electronic Products

Location: Hemel Hempstead – this is an office-based role.

Salary: Up to £55,000 + Benefits

KO2’s client is seeking a technically strong Technical Product Development Manager to take ownership of the technical direction and evolution of a range of commercial electronic products.

This role sits between engineering, product development, and supplier collaboration. You will act as the internal technical authority when working with external manufacturing partners, reviewing designs, challenging engineering decisions, and ensuring products deliver industry-leading performance.

This position is ideal for someone who understands electronics and hardware development, but is equally motivated by product innovation, research, competitor analysis, and translating technology into successful consumer products.

Some travel will be required to partners in China, our client need someone who is genuinely hands on in product development, ideally with a strong electronics / hardware background and good experience developing physical consumer Products with Chinese factories.

You will need to be able to work directly with factory engineers, challenge technical solutions, review samples, solve problems and help get Products properly across the line into production. The role will cover both developing new Products and improving / problem solving their existing product range

Key Responsibilities

Own the technical product roadmap
Review and challenge supplier electronic designs, schematics, and system architectures
Validate new product ideas through technical research, engineering analysis, and testing
Work closely with suppliers to push technical performance and innovation
Drive continuous improvement of existing products through component optimisation and design changes
Translate scientific research, technical papers, and patents into engineering targets and product improvements
Analyse customer feedback and reviews to identify product improvement opportunities
Define product specifications and technical requirements for suppliers
Support marketing teams by translating technical capabilities into clear consumer benefits

Experience & Skills

Background in electronics, hardware engineering, or technical product development
Ability to understand and challenge engineering decisions
Strong analytical mindset and curiosity for how technology works
Experience working with manufacturing partners or hardware suppliers
Ability to translate technical research into product direction
Strong experience developing Products with Chinese OEM / ODM manufacturers and working directly with factory engineers.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working between engineering and product leadership. You should feel comfortable discussing technical challenges with engineers while also considering how products succeed in the consumer market.

The role requires curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement, with a focus on analysing technology, challenging assumptions, and working with suppliers to achieve better outcomes.

Apply today with an up-to-date CV for immediate consideration.

Test Technician – Medical & Drug Delivery Devices

August 26, 2026/in South Permanent /by Chris Oddy

£25,000 – £30,000 | Cambridgeshire | Full-Time, Permanent | On-Site

Are you looking to start or build your career in medical device testing? Join a leading medical device design and development company as a Test Technician within their Device Testing team, working on a genuinely fascinating range of medical and drug delivery devices. From injectable and inhalation devices through to robotics and surgical instruments.

This is a fantastic entry point into the industry, with a clearly defined route for career progression as you gain experience.

What You’ll Be Doing

Supporting hands-on testing across a variety of projects, from early-stage R&D through to formal design verification and post-market investigations
Carrying out mechanical and functional testing – think force testing, weighing, measuring physical dimensions, and detailed visual inspections
Running environmental stress conditioning and working with bespoke test rigs
Following test methods, protocols and quality documentation (SOPs, WIs) to a consistently high standard
Generating and recording accurate test data
Occasionally supporting electronic test and build work

You’ll work closely within a multi-disciplinary project team, under supervision as you learn the ropes.

What We’re Looking For

Previous experience conducting laboratory testing (this doesn’t need to be in medical devices – general lab experience from university or another industry is fine)
A good understanding of health and safety practices in a lab environment
Experience creating test data and writing up results
A relevant degree or equivalent practical/vocational experience (BTEC-level lab work also considered)
Basic Excel skills

You’re likely to be either fresh out of university or have up to around two years’ experience. What matters most is your personality: you’re conscientious, keen to learn, not afraid to ask for help, and able to stay calm and focused under pressure. Any customer-facing or client-service experience (even from part-time work) is a real bonus.

Career Progression

This role offers a genuinely structured path forward:

Test Technician (this role) – supervised for your first 6 months while you build core skills and pass probation
Test Scientist – working independently on specific tasks
Analytical Scientist – recognised as a subject matter expert, responsible for method validation

Graduates with a relevant master’s degree can typically expect to progress through to Analytical Scientist within around two years.

Location & Commute

This is a full time, on-site, laboratory based role in Cambridgeshire. It’s well suited to those driving in, and there are also good cycle routes for anyone commuting from the Cambridge direction or from local villages – with bike storage, showers and towels provided on site for cyclists.

The Package

Salary: £25,000 – £30,000, depending on experience
Full time, permanent position
Structured career development pathway
Work on genuinely varied, high-impact medical technology

Apply now with your CV, or get in touch to find out more about this opportunity.

Embedded Software Engineer

July 29, 2026/in Midlands, South Permanent /by Chris Oddy

Embedded Software Engineer – Battery Management Systems
Location: Warwick – Onsite 3–4 days/week
Salary: £65,000–£75,000

About the Role
A rapidly expanding commercial energy infrastructure company is looking for an experienced Embedded Software Engineer to join their growing team. You’ll own firmware architecture for battery energy storage systems delivering mission-critical power resilience to customers across oil and gas and beyond — working with cutting-edge battery topologies and real-time power management algorithms.

Key Responsibilities

Design and develop embedded C/C++ firmware for battery management controllers, including state estimation, cell balancing, and thermal management
Evolve BMS architecture to support next-gen energy storage topologies, including ring-topology configurations and distributed cell monitoring
Implement and optimise real-time power control logic for fast-response systems (50–240kW+), ensuring 99%+ reliability and uptime
Define and debug power electronics interfaces, CAN/Modbus communication stacks, and safety-critical monitoring systems
Develop test strategies and provide field support for deployed systems

Required Experience

Embedded software development in C/C++ (microcontrollers, embedded Linux, or real-time systems)
Battery management systems, power electronics, or energy storage
Strong real-time fundamentals: interrupt handling, state machines, deterministic timing
Proficiency with CAN bus, Modbus, or RS485
Understanding of power electronics: voltage/current sensing, SoC/SoH estimation, thermal modelling
Git and embedded debugging/test automation tools
IEC 61508/functional safety experience a strong advantage

Desirable
Battery chemistry knowledge (Li-ion, LFP), industrial IoT/cloud-connected systems, FPGA/ASIC design, automotive/aerospace power systems, and wireless integration (Bluetooth/WiFi/4G/5G).

What They Offer
£65,000–£75,000, flexible/hybrid working, employee share scheme, modern engineering toolkit, and genuine technical autonomy within a small, fast-growing team. Plus pension, health insurance, and comprehensive benefits.

How to Apply
Send your CV and a brief cover letter, including links to relevant work (GitHub, past projects, technical write-ups).

Equal opportunities employer — applications welcome from all backgrounds.

Senior Software Architect

July 23, 2026/in Midlands, South Permanent /by Chris Oddy

Senior Software Architect
Royston, Hertfordshire

£90,000 basic + bonus (£100,000 OTE)

On-site with flexibility

Own the software vision for two global product platforms.

This is a rare opportunity to take genuine architectural authority across an entire software ecosystem, not a slice of it. Our client is a global manufacturer of advanced precision machinery used in demanding, highly regulated production environments worldwide. Their Royston site is the global design authority for the product line, supported by manufacturing operations in the United States and China, and R&D teams in the UK, Germany and Asia.

They currently run two established brands, each with its own software platform, its own hardware platform, and its own development team working largely independently. That is the problem you are being brought in to solve. You will be the person who understands both architectures at code level, forms a view on what should be shared, what should be merged, and what should stay deliberately different, and then sets the technical direction that takes those platforms into their next generation.

What you will actually be doing

Getting properly under the bonnet of two mature software architectures, mapping how they are built, why they were built that way, and where the structural risks and opportunities sit
Defining the technical vision and roadmap for the next generation software platform, aligned to how the business wants to differentiate its two brands commercially
Designing layered architectures that allow multiple teams, in multiple countries, to iterate quickly without tripping over each other
Producing system architectures and high level product specifications for solutions that must be robust, scalable and secure
Line managing a small UK software team of three to four engineers initially, with the German software team of a similar size expected to come under your remit over time
Acting as the technical bridge into the Asia based R&D function, particularly around a growing portfolio of AI driven feature development
Working across the full lifecycle, from early system definition through design, development, deployment and production support
Holding developers to account on implementation quality, challenging approaches and mentoring where it counts
Operating within an established Agile framework (SAFe or Scrum)

The portfolio you will influence spans customer facing application software, advanced imaging and signal processing algorithms, embedded firmware on custom electronics, and internal production and R&D tooling.

The technology

The core application software runs on Windows IoT and is predominantly C and C++, with C# also in the estate. Around it sit custom electronics with their own firmware and embedded operating systems, AI and machine learning workstreams, and an emerging interest in connected and cloud enabled services. Cyber security, and the Cyber Resilience Act in particular, is a live and serious topic, because these are connected products going into industrial networks.

What they need from you

This is not a requirements engineering role and it is not a Scrum Master role with a new title. The team will only follow someone whose technical credibility is beyond question.

Essential:

A career that started in hands on software development and progressed upwards. You do not need to code daily, but you must be someone who could, and who has been genuinely excellent at it at some point
Strong commercial development background in C, C++ and C#, with exposure to Python, .NET, Java or SQL welcome
Experience architecting software that controls physical hardware. This is not enterprise software. The code drives a machine that does something in the real world, and it has to interact properly with electronics, sensors and mechanics
Demonstrable experience operating as a software architect or technical authority within a complex, multi site organisation
The ability to influence, persuade and align global teams without direct line authority
Domain depth in at least one of: application software (industrial automation, networking protocols, UI frameworks), IoT and cloud development (Azure, AWS), AI and machine learning systems, cyber security, or embedded systems (RTOS, bare metal, hard real time)

Highly desirable:

Experience working across European, Asian and North American teams, and an instinct for how working and communication styles differ across those cultures
Time spent living or working abroad
Background in industrial automation, medical devices, robotics, defence or another regulated hardware led sector

Travel and working pattern

Expect to travel less than twenty percent of your time, but at least once a quarter, including regular trips to Germany and roughly quarterly visits to Asia. The role is primarily site based in Royston, with a discretionary hybrid policy in place.

What is on offer

£90,000 basic salary
Annual bonus scheme taking realistic total earnings to around £100,000
25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
Early finish on Fridays
Enhanced work life balance policies, strong wellbeing focus and regular employee engagement events
Genuine international exposure across a global engineering network
Committed investment in training and technical development

Why this one is worth a conversation

Architect roles of this scope do not come up often. Most give you one platform, one team and a fixed direction. This gives you two platforms, three engineering locations, a blank sheet for the next generation, and the mandate to decide what it looks like. If you have built the technical foundation and you now want the influence that goes with it, this is the step.

Apply with your CV for a confidential discussion, or contact Laurence or Andrew at KO2 Embedded Recruitment Solutions.

Embedded Software Lead – Medical Devices

July 14, 2026/in South Permanent /by Chris Oddy

Embedded Software Lead – Medical Devices

Bristol

Up to £80,000 + Bonus, OTE £100,000

KO2’s client is an innovative and fast-growing medical technology business developing advanced devices in a regulated environment. They are looking for an Embedded Software Lead to own embedded software and systems at a discipline level, sitting alongside the mechanical lead within the R&D leadership team and reporting to the Head of R&D.

This is a genuine leadership position. You will set the embedded software strategy, own it, and drive it. It is not a compliance heavy role and it is not narrowly specialised. The team is small, so you will stay close to the code and the hardware while shaping direction across the whole product.

The Opportunity

You will act as the system level lead across embedded software and hardware, driving design, integration and verification of current products and the next generation. The role blends hands on engineering, technical leadership and cross functional influence, with real ownership of product direction and a clear seat at the table.

What you will be doing

Set and drive the embedded software and systems strategy for the business
Contribute to early stage innovation, exploring new technologies in embedded systems and connected medical devices
Develop proof of concepts and functional prototypes
Lead system design across software and hardware for new product development
Own design control, risk management and verification and validation for the software and hardware functions
Provide technical oversight, review the work of engineers and challenge solutions to protect quality
Identify risks and constraints early and shape product direction through informed engineering decisions
Investigate complex field issues, complaints and non conformances alongside the quality team
Drive improvements in performance, reliability and cost across the existing range
Support usability testing and concept validation

What KO2’s client is looking for

Degree in software engineering, computer science, electronics or electrical engineering, or a related field
Around ten years in embedded software development within a regulated environment, medical device experience preferred
Expert level embedded software development, ideally C or C plus plus
Experience on physical products, not purely cloud or desktop systems
Strong design control, version control, testing and documentation discipline
Experience across the full product lifecycle, from concept through to launch and improvement
Awareness of cybersecurity and patient safety principles
An appreciation of electronics and hardware integration, beneficial rather than essential
Familiarity with medical device standards and regulated pathways, for example ISO 13485, IEC 62304, ISO 14971, IEC 60601 and IEC 62366

Just as important as the person

This is the part that will decide who gets the job. The successful candidate will be self contained. They will take the biggest problem in front of them, work out what needs to happen, and go and do it, without being told what is needed, in what format, and by when. They will have the gravitas to hold their own alongside mechanical leadership and the drive to set direction rather than wait for it. Pragmatic, willing to work outside the core role when the team needs it, and comfortable in a fast changing environment.

This role will suit someone who

Wants to step up into, or continue in, a technical leadership role with real ownership
Enjoys tangible, real world medical products rather than abstract software
Prefers broad engineering ownership to being siloed
Has regulated experience but does not want a compliance heavy job

Salary and Benefits

£75,000 base salary
£20,000 to £25,000 on target bonus
Strong benefits package
A key leadership seat in a growing R&D team
The opportunity to work on medical technology with genuine real world impact

Apply Today

If you are an embedded software engineer ready to lead at a systems level, and you want the mandate to shape an embedded software strategy rather than execute someone else’s, this is a strong next step.

Contact Andrew Knight or Laurence Powell at KO2 Embedded Recruitment Solutions.

Embedded Software Engineer

July 7, 2026/in South Permanent /by Chris Oddy

Embedded Software Engineer
Trowbridge, Wiltshire (Hybrid WFH)

Up to £56,000 DOE

Our client, a well-established name in the automotive sector, is looking for an experienced Embedded Software Engineer to join their growing engineering team. This is an excellent opportunity to work on cutting-edge embedded platforms within a business that offers genuine flexibility, technical challenge, and room to grow.

The Role

You’ll be involved in the design, development, and delivery of embedded software for automotive applications, working across the full development lifecycle from concept through to production. You’ll collaborate closely with hardware, systems, and test engineering teams to deliver robust, reliable embedded solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Design and develop embedded software using C/C++ for automotive platforms
Work with FreeRTOS to build and maintain real-time embedded applications
Develop and support embedded Linux-based systems
Debug and optimize firmware across the full development lifecycle
Collaborate with cross-functional teams including hardware, systems, and test engineering
Contribute to code reviews, design discussions, and continuous improvement of development practices

Key Skills & Experience

Strong proficiency in C/C++ for embedded systems development
Hands-on experience with FreeRTOS
Experience working with embedded Linux
Solid understanding of embedded systems development tools and methodologies
Automotive industry experience is highly desirable
Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team

Desirable Skills

Yocto Project experience
Docker / containerization experience

What’s on Offer

Salary up to £56,000, depending on experience
Hybrid working — flexibility to work from home
The opportunity to work on innovative automotive embedded technology
A collaborative, technically strong engineering environment

If you’re an embedded software engineer with automotive experience and are looking for your next challenge in a role that offers real flexibility, r we’d love to hear from you.

Principal Electronics Engineer

June 29, 2026/in South Permanent /by Chris Oddy

Principal Electronics Engineer

Location: High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

Salary: Up to £70,000

The Opportunity

KO2’s client is a specialist engineering business operating in a highly regulated and technically demanding sector. They design, manufacture, and deliver electronic systems where performance and reliability are paramount, working on programmes that have genuine real-world impact. This is a rare opening for a Principal Electronics Engineer to join a small, expert team working on some of the most technically challenging and commercially significant projects in their field.

Why This Role Is Worth Your Attention

This is not a box-ticking electronics role. You will be working on complex, high-integrity systems that require serious analogue design capability and the confidence to take technical ownership from concept through to delivery. The team is experienced, the work is meaningful, and your contribution will be visible. Specifically, you will be involved in the design and development of electronic systems used in weapons interface applications for the UK defence sector, requiring SC security clearance. Few roles offer this level of technical depth alongside the chance to act as a genuine authority within the engineering function.

The working week is 4.5 days (Friday afternoon off), with an initial site-based period that reduces over time as trust is established. The role is based at the client’s Loudwater facility, which is conveniently commutable from High Wycombe and the surrounding area.

Key Responsibilities

Leading the design and development of complex electronic systems from concept through to production and in-service support
Acting as technical authority for electronics across multiple concurrent programmes
Defining system and subsystem requirements to meet customer, regulatory, and operational needs
Providing expert guidance on analogue and mixed-signal electronic design, architecture, and component selection
Conducting circuit analysis, simulation, and formal design reviews
Overseeing schematic capture and guiding PCB layout activities
Supporting verification, integration, qualification, and production phases
Mentoring and developing engineers within the team
Representing the business in technical reviews and customer meetings

What We Are Looking For

Essential:

HNC, HND, degree or equivalent qualification in Electrical or Electronic Engineering
Significant experience designing electronic systems in high-reliability or regulated industries
Strong analogue electronics design and circuit simulation expertise
Experience with communication protocols such as RS485, SPI, I2C, CAN or similar
Solid understanding of component selection, derating, reliability, and lifecycle considerations
Ability to produce and review schematics and technical documentation to a high standard
Understanding of PCB design principles, layout supervision, and design-for-manufacture
Self-motivated and confident leading technical delivery in a fast-paced environment

Desirable:

Experience with EMC design
Digital circuit design background
Wiring definition experience
Familiarity with Altium Design
Prior experience in defence or aerospace

Security Requirements

Due to the nature of the programmes involved, candidates must be British nationals and eligible for SC security clearance. Candidates who are dual nationals may be considered in certain circumstances, but this will require discussion at interview stage. A clean criminal record is required. BPSS screening will be conducted at the point of offer.

Salary and Package

Up to £70,000 basic salary, plus pension, life insurance, and a competitive wider benefits package. Full details will be provided at the appropriate stage.

To apply or find out more, please contact the KO2 team in confidence.