Manufacturing Architect

Position: Manufacturing Architect

Location: Reading

Salary: Up to £100,000 DOE

KO2’s client is hiring a founding motor manufacturing architect / engineer to take full ownership of a brand new, high performance manufacturing facility in Reading

This is a genuine ground up opportunity. You will set up the motor assembly facility from scratch, defining how it should be designed, laid out and operated. With a blank sheet in front of you, you will architect the manufacturing processes, select equipment, and build a production environment that sets the benchmark for motor manufacturing in Europe

The facility will focus on small brushless motors used in defence applications, with specifications ranging from 1kW to 15kW power and 6 to 14S voltage platforms. Alongside motor production, the site will also incorporate PCB assembly, creating a tightly integrated manufacturing environment

Your remit is not just to build the facility, but to run it. You will manage day to day operations, implement robust processes, and continuously optimise performance across yield, throughput and quality. The ambition is clear to scale this into the highest volume production facility of its type in Europe

Working closely with design engineering, you will take motors from concept into full production. You will establish stator winding processes, rotor and stator assembly, bearing installation, balancing and final verification. You will procure and commission winding equipment, develop fixtures and tooling, and implement quality systems including process controls, inspection and traceability

You will also take ownership of supplier qualification across key components such as laminations, magnets, winding wire, bearings and housings, ensuring consistent quality from incoming materials through to final product

As the facility grows, you will build and lead the manufacturing team, setting the standard for how the operation runs and scales

This role requires a hands on engineer who can move between strategy and execution. You should have experience in motor or electromechanical manufacturing, particularly in scaling or optimising production lines. Experience with winding, assembly and in process electrical testing is essential, and exposure to high reliability environments such as aerospace or defence would be highly valuable

This is an opportunity for someone who wants full ownership and the chance to build a best in class manufacturing operation from the ground up, then prove it at scale

Role requirements and logistics

Full time onsite role based in Reading

Salary £50,000 to £100,000 with flexibility for exceptional candidates
Short term contract options can be considered as an interim solution while a permanent hire is secured

If you are looking for a role where you can design the factory, build the processes, and run the operation to a world class standard, this is that opportunity

Apply today with an up to date CV.

Embedded Software Lead – MedTech

Embedded Software Lead – MedTech
Bristol (3–4 days on-site)
£75,000 + £20,000–£25,000 bonus + excellent benefits

KO2’s client is an innovative and fast-growing technology business developing advanced wearable devices within a medically regulated environment. They are now seeking an Embedded Software Medical Lead to play a critical role in shaping the next generation of their products, although being narrowly focused on highly specialised or niche medical systems.

This is a leadership position within the R&D function, sitting alongside mechanical leadership and taking ownership of embedded software at a system level.

The Opportunity

You’ll act as the system-level lead across embedded software and hardware, driving design, integration, and validation of both current and next-generation wearable products.

This role blends hands-on engineering, technical leadership, and cross-functional collaboration, giving you real influence over product direction without being confined to purely regulatory work.

What You’ll Be Doing

  • Contribute to early-stage innovation, exploring new technologies in embedded systems and wearable applications
  • Develop proof-of-concepts and functional prototypes
  • Identify risks early and shape product direction through informed engineering decisions
  • Support usability testing and concept validation
  • Lead system design across software and hardware for new product development
  • Own design control, risk management, and verification/validation activities
  • Provide technical oversight and challenge solutions to ensure high-quality delivery
  • Investigate complex technical issues and support resolution of field challenges
  • Drive continuous improvements in performance, reliability, and cost
  • Work closely with quality and cross-functional teams

What KO2’s client is looking for

  • Strong background in embedded software development (ideally with some hardware exposure)
  • Experience working on physical products (not purely cloud or desktop systems)
  • Background in a regulated environment (medical, safety-critical, or similar preferred, but not overly specialised)
  • Solid understanding of full product lifecycle, from concept through to launch and improvement
  • Experience with design control, testing, and documentation
  • Strong communicator with the ability to lead and influence

Technical skills:

  • Experience in C or C++ (or similar embedded languages)
  • Understanding of electronics or hardware integration (beneficial, not essential)
  • Awareness of cybersecurity and safety considerations

This role would suit someone who:

  • Wants to step into or continue in a technical leadership role
  • Enjoys working on tangible, real-world products
  • Prefers broad engineering ownership rather than being siloed
  • Has some exposure to regulated environments but doesn’t want an overly compliance-heavy role.

Salary and Benefits

  • £75,000 base salary
  • On-target bonus of £20,000–£25,000
  • Strong benefits package
  • A key leadership role in a growing R&D team
  • The opportunity to work on cutting-edge wearable technology with real-world impact

If you’re an embedded software engineer ready to lead at a systems level—and want to work on innovative wearable products in a collaborative, fast-moving environment—this could be a great next step.

Senior Embedded Software Engineer

Senior Embedded Software Engineer (Motor Control & Real-Time Systems)
Location: Reading with Hybrid WFH

KO2’s client, a cutting-edge and rapidly scaling start-up based in Reading, is looking for a Senior Embedded Software Engineer to play a key role in developing next-generation motor drive and propulsion systems.

This is a high-impact opportunity to work on advanced embedded platforms at the intersection of real-time control, power electronics, and high-performance firmware, helping to shape both product direction and engineering culture from an early stage.

What You’ll Do

  • Design and implement real-time embedded firmware for ESC controllers and next-generation motor drive systems, from initial architecture through to production release
  • Develop and optimise motor control algorithms for BLDC motors, including field-oriented control, sensorless commutation, and current loop tuning
  • Integrate sensors and implement feedback control systems for position, speed, and current regulation
  • Own and implement communication stacks including CAN, UART, SPI, I2C, and DShot, and define telemetry interfaces
  • Optimise firmware for performance, memory efficiency, and deterministic real-time behaviour on resource-constrained microcontrollers
  • Collaborate closely with power electronics engineers to define hardware–firmware interfaces (gate drivers, current sensing, ADC configuration, protection logic)
  • Lead firmware architecture decisions including RTOS selection, scheduling strategies, and platform abstraction
  • Establish engineering best practices: version control, code reviews, testing frameworks, and CI/CD pipelines
  • Conduct system-level validation including hardware-in-the-loop testing, dynamometer integration, and field trials

Required Skills and Experience

  • 5+ years of hands-on experience in embedded C/C++ for real-time systems
  • Proven experience in motor control, power electronics, or high-reliability embedded systems
  • Experience in a technical lead or architect role, owning firmware from concept through production
  • Strong expertise in RTOS (e.g. FreeRTOS, Zephyr), including scheduling, interrupts, and deterministic timing
  • Experience implementing and debugging communication protocols (CAN, UART, SPI, I2C)
  • Strong debugging skills using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, and hardware tools
  • Proficiency with Git, CI/CD pipelines, unit testing, and modern development workflows

Preferred

  • Background in aerospace, defence, or UAV systems, particularly propulsion or ESC development
  • Knowledge of advanced motor control techniques (FOC, sensorless control, space vector modulation)
  • Familiarity with safety-critical standards (DO-178C, IEC 61508, MISRA C)
  • Understanding of power electronics fundamentals (PWM, gate drivers, current sensing, thermal considerations)

What’s on Offer

  • Opportunity to join a cutting-edge start-up at a pivotal growth stage
  • Work on industry-leading technology with real-world impact
  • Competitive salary, equity, and benefits package
  • Flexible and hybrid working options
  • A highly collaborative, ambitious, and technically driven culture.

Apply today with an up-to-date CV and a member of the KO2 team will be in touch to progress your application.

Senior Embedded Software Engineer

Senior Embedded Software Engineer
Eastbourne, East Sussex
3 days onsite | 2 days remote

Competitive salary + Bonus up to 7.5%

KO2’s client, a well-established and financially stable engineering company, is looking to recruit a Senior Embedded Software Engineer to join their growing development team in Eastbourne. This is an excellent opportunity to join a business known for long-term stability, strong engineering culture, and investment in innovation.

Working in a collaborative multi-disciplinary team, you’ll play a key role in the development of embedded software for advanced electronic systems, contributing across the full software development lifecycle from requirements capture through to release and validation.

The position offers a hybrid working model with 3 days onsite and 2 days remote each week.

The Role

As a Senior Embedded Software Engineer, you will develop and support embedded software used in controller systems, instrumentation, and interfaces. You will work on both new product development and enhancements to existing platforms, helping deliver robust, production-ready software for global projects.

You’ll collaborate closely with engineers across hardware, systems, and product teams while also providing technical guidance within the software group.

Key Responsibilities

  • Develop and maintain embedded software for controller and instrumentation platforms
  • Work across the full software development lifecycle, from requirements capture to validation and release
  • Design scalable, maintainable software architectures that promote code reuse and collaboration
  • Participate in Agile/SCRUM-based development projects
  • Support integration and testing of software with hardware systems
  • Investigate and diagnose software and hardware related issues
  • Develop test harnesses, automation tools, and validation scripts
  • Ensure code is delivered with appropriate design and test documentation
  • Contribute to improvements in software development processes and quality standards
  • Provide technical mentoring and guidance to less experienced engineers

Skills & Experience Required

  • Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronic Engineering, or a related discipline
  • Strong embedded software development experience
  • Experience developing software for electronics-based products
  • Familiarity with embedded processors and hardware interaction
  • Experience working within structured software development processes
  • Understanding of Agile / SCRUM development methodologies
  • Experience delivering production-ready embedded systems
  • Ability to troubleshoot and diagnose embedded software and hardware issues
  • Experience working within multi-disciplinary engineering teams

Desirable Experience

  • Experience working within regulated or compliance-driven industries
  • Experience working within global engineering teams
  • Exposure to automation, test development, or software validation frameworks

Why Join KO2’s Client?

  • Stable and well-established engineering business
  • Hybrid working: 3 days onsite / 2 days remote
  • Annual bonus up to 7.5%
  • Strong culture of collaboration, trust, and accountability
  • Opportunities for career development and technical progression
  • Work on complex engineering systems within a highly skilled team

Lead Embedded Software Engineer

Lead Embedded Software Engineer

Eastbourne, East Sussex

3 days onsite | 2 days remote

Salary up to £65,000 + Bonus up to 7.5%

KO2’s client, a stable and well-established engineering company, is seeking a Lead Embedded Software Engineer to join their development team in Eastbourne. This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced engineer who enjoys both hands-on development and technical leadership, working within a collaborative and forward-thinking engineering environment.

This role offers a hybrid working arrangement of 3 days onsite and 2 days remote, along with the opportunity to work on complex embedded systems that support a range of advanced electronic products.

As a Lead Embedded Software Engineer, you will take responsibility for architecting and guiding the development of embedded software used within controller systems, instrumentation, and electronic interfaces. You’ll be involved in all stages of the software development lifecycle, from requirements capture through to validation and release.

You’ll also play a key role in technical leadership, helping shape software architecture, mentoring engineers, and ensuring projects are delivered to high technical and quality standards.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead the architecture and development of embedded software solutions for advanced electronic systems
  • Work across the full software development lifecycle, from concept and requirements through to release and validation
  • Design robust, scalable software architectures that enable reliable and maintainable products
  • Maintain awareness of technology trends and product roadmaps, identifying opportunities for future software innovation
  • Take on team leadership responsibilities, including acting as a SCRUM Master where required
  • Support effective Agile software development processes, including sprint reviews and retrospectives
  • Mentor and coach engineers within the team, promoting best practices and technical excellence
  • Ensure clear software completion criteria and robust testing strategies
  • Maintain and improve automated regression test frameworks and validation processes
  • Oversee the release of production-ready software, ensuring appropriate design documentation and governance
  • Collaborate with multi-disciplinary engineering teams and stakeholders to deliver successful projects

Skills & Experience Required

  • Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronic Engineering, or a related field
  • Strong embedded software development experience within electronics-based systems
  • Experience developing software architectures for embedded products
  • Experience delivering production-ready electronic systems in an engineering environment
  • Understanding of embedded processors and hardware interaction
  • Experience with Agile and Waterfall development methodologies
  • Experience acting as a SCRUM Master, Product Owner, or technical project lead
  • Strong understanding of software development processes within regulated or compliance-driven industries
  • Experience collaborating within multi-disciplinary engineering teams

Desirable Experience

  • Experience working with international engineering teams
  • Experience managing integrated software and electronics development projects
  • Exposure to automated testing and regression frameworks

Why Join KO2’s Client?

  • Salary up to £65,000 plus bonus up to 7.5%
  • Hybrid working – 3 days onsite / 2 days remote
  • Work within a stable, financially strong organisation
  • Opportunity to lead technical direction and mentor engineers
  • Strong culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement
  • Excellent opportunities for career progression and professional development

Lead Power Electronics Engineer

Lead Power Electronics Engineer
Eastbourne, East Sussex
Onsite – 5 days per week
Salary up to £65,000 + Bonus up to 7.5%

KO2’s client, a well-established and financially stable engineering organisation, is looking to recruit a Lead Power Electronics Engineer to join their engineering team in Eastbourne. This is an exciting opportunity for a highly experienced electronics engineer to take a technical leadership role in the design and development of advanced electronic systems.

Due to the hands-on nature of the hardware development and testing, this role is fully onsite in Eastbourne and offers the chance to work closely with multidisciplinary teams across engineering, product management, and operations.

The Role

As a Lead Power Electronics Engineer, you will play a key role in driving the design, development, and delivery of innovative electronic solutions across multiple product lines. Acting as a senior technical authority within the team, you will guide engineering decisions, ensure best practices in electronics design, and support the successful transition of products from concept through to production.

You will work closely with engineers across multiple disciplines, mentor colleagues, and contribute to the delivery of high-performance, reliable electronic systems that meet both business objectives and regulatory requirements.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead the design and development of advanced electronic systems, ensuring high standards of performance, reliability, and manufacturability
  • Maintain awareness of product roadmaps and technology developments, identifying opportunities for innovation and future product improvements
  • Integrate advanced electronic techniques and design approaches to enhance product capability and competitiveness
  • Ensure a holistic approach to product development, balancing design optimisation with manufacturability, quality, and reliability
  • Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineering team members, promoting best practices and guiding projects to successful completion
  • Lead the resolution of complex technical challenges, using structured problem-solving and root cause analysis techniques
  • Collaborate with product management and cross-functional teams to define and deliver new product capabilities within project timelines
  • Work closely with external suppliers and technical specialists to incorporate new technologies and strengthen the team’s knowledge base
  • Ensure designs support effective component and system-level testing and meet safety and compliance requirements

Skills & Experience Required

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a related discipline
  • Strong experience in electronic circuit design, including both analogue and digital systems
  • Significant experience working in global, multi-disciplinary engineering environments
  • Expertise in analogue electronics design, including areas such as low-noise amplifiers and RF amplifier design
  • Strong understanding of high-speed digital design principles
  • Experience designing high voltage electronic circuits and instrumentation
  • Experience working with microcontroller-based systems (e.g., ARM, DSP architectures)
  • Knowledge of high-speed communication interfaces such as I2C, SPI, UART, Ethernet, RS485, RS232, CANopen, and fieldbus technologies
  • Experience using schematic capture and PCB layout tools such as Altium or OrCAD
  • Experience working within regulated or compliance-driven industries or high-reliability environments (e.g., aerospace, medical, industrial systems)
  • Understanding of product safety and electromagnetic compatibility standards such as EN 61010
  • Strong understanding of product development processes and the ability to recommend improvements
  • Experience working with global engineering teams and cross-disciplinary design groups

Desirable Experience

  • Membership of a professional body such as the IET, or working toward Chartered Engineer status
  • Experience using engineering or product lifecycle tools such as SAP or Silicon Expert
  • Experience working within Agile (SCRUM) and Waterfall project management frameworks
  • Experience working closely with suppliers and external technology partners

Why Join KO2’s Client?

  • Salary up to £65,000 plus bonus up to 7.5%
  • Work within a stable and globally established engineering organisation
  • Opportunity to take a technical leadership role in complex electronics development
  • Work alongside highly skilled multidisciplinary engineering teams
  • Opportunity to contribute to innovative, high-performance electronic systems
  • Strong culture of engineering excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement

Contract Manufacturing Engineer / Process Engineer (Through‑Hole PCBA)

Rate: up to £55 per hour (outside IR35)
Location: Crawley, West Sussex
Contract: 6 months (extension likely)
Start: ASAP

A contract opportunity for an experienced Manufacturing or Process Engineer with strong knowledge of through‑hole PCBA assembly. You’ll support the development, optimisation, and configuration of electronics manufacturing processes, focusing on how boards are built and how equipment is programmed.

What you’ll be doing
• Define assembly sequences for through‑hole PCBAs
• Configure and program semi‑automatic placement equipment
• Support programming of wave soldering machines
• Develop and refine processes for conventional leaded components
• Work closely with production teams to improve efficiency
• Drive continuous improvement across the electronics assembly area

This is an engineering and process definition role, not hands‑on board assembly.

Skills and Experience required:
• Experience in electronics assembly / PCBA manufacturing
• Strong understanding of through‑hole components and processes
• Background with semi‑automatic placement machinery
• Knowledge of wave soldering
• A process‑driven mindset and practical approach to optimisation

Senior Embedded Software Engineer

Senior Embedded Software Engineer

Location: Stroud, Gloucestershire

Salary: Up to £70,000

KO2’s client is an ambitious, well funded and fast-growing technology start-up based in Stroud, developing advanced sensing and monitoring systems that combine low-power embedded platforms, intelligent signal processing, and secure wireless connectivity.

The Role – Senior Embedded Software Engineer

You will be responsible for the full embedded development lifecycle:

  • Scoping and requirements definition
  • System architecture (hardware & software)
  • Simulation and modelling
  • Firmware development
  • Integration and verification
  • Validation and production release

The successful Embedded Software Engineer will work closely with hardware, data, and product engineers to deliver robust, secure, and power-efficient sensing platforms operating in demanding real-world environments.

Key Responsibilities

  • Architect and develop low-power embedded firmware (C/C++) for sensor platforms
  • Design for ultra-low power consumption in battery-operated and remote systems
  • Implement sensor data acquisition and processing pipelines (e.g. MEMS microphones, accelerometers and other environmental sensors)
  • Develop and optimise RF communications systems, particularly:
  • LoRa or similar LPWAN technologies
  • Mesh networking architectures
  • Implement secure communications including encryption, authentication and secure boot mechanisms
  • Develop machine learning-enabled acoustic detection and classification systems:
  • Data pre-processing and feature extraction
  • Deployment of optimised ML models on constrained embedded devices

Essential Experience

  • Significant experience in embedded C/C++ development
  • Strong experience across the full product lifecycle (concept → production)
  • Proven expertise designing for low-power embedded systems
  • Experience with sensor data acquisition and real-time signal processing
  • Strong RF communications experience, particularly LoRa or comparable technologies
  • Experience implementing mesh networking protocols
  • Solid understanding of embedded security (encryption, authentication, secure firmware updates)
  • Strong debugging and hardware bring-up skills

Highly Desirable

  • Machine learning for acoustic detection/classification
  • Experience with MEMS microphone-based systems
  • Wind/ambient noise mitigation design (hardware and software)
  • Secure OTA update mechanisms
  • Experience in a start-up or high-growth environment

If you’re a Senior Embedded Software Engineer looking to build intelligent, low-power sensing systems from the ground up — KO2 would be delighted to discuss this opportunity with you.

Senior Electronics Engineer

Senior Electronics Engineer

Salary: Up to £85,000
Location: Cambridge (Hybrid – 1 day per week from home)

KO2’s client is a highly respected, product-led company at the forefront of regulated technology development. They’re looking for a Senior Electronics Engineer to join a collaborative, forward-thinking engineering team working on complex, high-impact products.

This role is ideal for an engineer with strong experience across analogue and digital electronics, multilayer PCB design, firmware and an interest in FPGA development. You’ll be involved throughout the product lifecycle, contributing to innovative solutions in a highly regulated environment where precision, quality, and compliance truly matter.

The Role

  • Design and develop analogue and digital electronic systems for regulated products
  • Design multilayer PCB’s
  • Contribute to firmware development
  • Work within structured, compliant development processes
  • Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary engineering teams
  • Contribute to FPGA development as part of cutting-edge product designs

What They’re Looking For

  • A strong background in analogue and digital electronics
  • Experience with, or a genuine interest in, FPGA design using Verilog
  • A mindset suited to regulated industries, with a focus on quality, documentation, and compliance
  • Ability to work within a collaborative team environment

This is a fantastic opportunity for an Electronics Engineer who enjoys solving complex problems, working on meaningful products, and thriving in environments where engineering excellence is essential.

Benefits Package

  • Profit share (including a tax-free element)
  • 26 days holiday + bank holidays + buy/sell options
  • 9% employer pension contribution from day one
  • Private medical insurance
  • Death in service & income protection

Apply today to KO2’s client and play a key role in shaping the future of innovative, regulated product design.

Electronics Engineer (Embedded C)

Sports Technology | Permanent
Vauxhall, London (Hybrid – 3 days onsite / 2 remote)
Up to £65,000

KO2 are working with an innovative sports technology company based in Vauxhall, developing high-performance electronic systems used in elite sport. The client is flexible, so please apply if you can design electronics and write embedded software, albeit not at expert level, they are happy to mentor on the embedded software side.

KO2’s client are looking for an electronics led engineer who can also write embedded software in C. This is a hands-on role working across the full product lifecycle, from PCB design through to embedded bring-up and testing.

The Role

  • Electronics design from concept to production (schematics, PCB layout, bring-up)
  • Embedded software development and debugging in C (some C++ exposure useful)
  • Working with microcontrollers and embedded systems
  • Supporting testing, fault-finding and real-world deployment

The Profile

  • Strong electronics engineering background
  • Experience designing PCBs (Altium for production, KiCad also used)
  • Able to write and debug embedded C
  • Ideally 4+ years’ experience
  • Skill split typically 70/30 or 80/20 in favour of electronics, but strong 50/50 engineers also considered

This is not a pure electronics role,  solid embedded c experience is needed, at some level.

What’s on Offer

  • Salary up to £65,000
  • Hybrid working (3 days in the Vauxhall office)
  • Permanent role working on real, deployed sports technology
  • Unique opportunity to work for a season at the company’s facility in Austria

If you can design electronics and write embedded C, at any balance between the two, this is a rare and exciting opportunity.