Senior Mapping Engineer (Large-Scale HD Mapping) - First Key Hire

Circa £80k+, London based

Want to work for an advanced start up building real-world autonomous systems? We're looking for a highly skilled Senior Mapping Engineer to become the first dedicated mapping lead. This is a high-ownership role where you'll take charge of the high-accuracy, large-scale mapping capability, set the technical roadmap, and grow and mentor a mapping team as deployments scale.

You'll maintain and evolve an existing mapping codebase, enhancing accuracy, stability, and scalability across challenging industrial and autonomous environments. Working closely with perception, localization, and navigation, you'll ensure themaps are drift-free, up-to-date, and deeply integrated into the autonomy stack-from raw sensor data to validated, deployed map products.

What you'll do
* Own and advance scalable LiDAR- and vision-based mapping pipelines.
* Build and improve 2D/3D representations: occupancy grids, vector/HD maps, semantic layers, environment models.
* Lead multi-sensor fusion (LiDAR, cameras, radar, GNSS/INS, odometry) into coherent, consistent map outputs.
* Deliver large-scale capabilities like multi-session mapping, fleet workflows, map versioning, delta updates, and distributed map generation.
* Maintain tight integration with SLAM/Localization to ensure stable, drift-free deployment performance.
* Define KPIs and validation frameworks for map accuracy, completeness, and consistency.
* Translate state-of-the-art research (SLAM, semantic mapping, multi-modal reconstruction) into production systems.
* Set best practices and technical standards to support future team growth.

Experience required
* MSc/PhD in Robotics, Computer Vision, Computer Science, or related field.
* 4-5+ years hands-on mapping experience in autonomous systems or robotics.
* Deep expertise in LiDAR/point-cloud processing (PCL, Open3D, custom pipelines).
* Strong background in vision-based mapping/visual SLAM and multi-sensor fusion.
* Proficiency in C++ with strong experience in ROS2.
* Solid grounding in estimation, optimization, geometry, kinematics, and TF2.

Why join
You'll own a mission-critical autonomy capability, shape the map product and technical direction, work on live deployments, and step into a clear path to build and lead your own mapping team.