Computer Vision Team Lead

Computer Vision Team Lead

Astroscale

Harwell, United Kingdom

Astroscale UK is seeking a dynamic and technically strong engineer to lead our UK-based Computer Vision team, a key part of our global Algorithms and Software Group. You’ll combine deep technical expertise with strong leadership to design, develop, and deliver real-time computer vision and image processing software for spacecraft and ground systems.

Responsibilities

Team Management

• Lead the Astroscale UK Computer Vision (CV) team to deliver computer vision solutions to company/project compliant with technical and programmatic requirements;
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including GNC Algorithm team, GNC Hardware team, GNC System team, Software team and project managers to understand project requirements and constraints;
• Review the CV algorithms developments across the team, providing expert technical feedback;
• Support internal and external review gates for Astroscale projects;
• Stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in computer vision and deep learning. Encourage and facilitate continuous learning and innovation within the team;
• Foster a collaborative and innovative team culture;
• Support the personal and professional growth of team members through training, mentorship, and development opportunities;
• Support recruitment processes for new team members;
• Produce well structured, realistic, clear plans with key activities, timescales, milestones and resources;
• Schedule tasks for team;
• Regularly review progress against plans to ensure delivery.

Computer Vision Development

• Lead the design of computer vision modules for pose-estimation algorithms for Astroscale satellites;
• Benchmark the performance of the algorithms, under different operating configurations;
• Deliver CV software, guaranteeing software quality and run-time efficiency;
• Participate in the design, implementation and testing of safety critical software solutions, and PIL/HIL verification test-benches;
• Support knowledge transfer from Astroscale teams globally and provide technical review inputs to projects across the Astroscale organisation.

Essential Skills

• Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or other relevant engineering/science discipline;
• At least 3 years of experience in leading and managing a team, with the ability to motivate and inspire team members;
• 5 years of proven experience in computer vision research and development, with a focus on algorithm design and implementation;
• Solid understanding of computer vision principles, machine learning techniques, and deep learning frameworks;
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical thinking, and decision-making abilities;
• Proactive and self-managing, able to plan and effectively lead areas of responsibility whilst contributing collaboratively within a close-knit team;
• Excellent inter-personal skills, willing to collaborate effectively with people in different roles and with different cultural & technical backgrounds;
• Excellent communication skills: Articulate complex ideas in an easy, clear manner;
• Strong programming skills in Python/Matlab/C/C++ for computer vision applications, including familiarity with popular computer vision libraries and frameworks such as OpenCV, TensorFlow and PyTorch;
• Strong knowledge of software configuration control;
• Strong understanding of Lidar signal processing and principles of tracking & estimation and understanding the principles of LIDAR and Camera sensors;
• Knowledge or experience on Software testing, Unit and integration testing, Software integration, interfaces design;
• Strong organization and project management skills, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously;
• Capability to generate project documentation, developing specifications, requirements and design, and other engineering documentation;
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and adapt to changing project requirements;
• Familiarity with Git and git-flow like processes;
• A basic knowledge of space system design.

Desirable skills

• Experience with vision-based navigation in space;
• Knowledge of rigid body dynamics and kinematics;
• Previous relevant experience in the space industry;
• Practical experience in development of embedded systems software (C, C++) in related industrial context or other experience in safety critical software;
• Understanding and use of concepts such as Continuous Integration (Jenkins) and Test-Driven Development.