Commissioning Team Leader

At SYOS, we’re building the next generation of autonomous vehicles across air, land and sea
. Our UK maritime team is growing, and we’re looking for a Commissioning Team Leader to lead the technical commissioning, integration, testing and readiness of vessels, USVs and associated systems from production through acceptance and handover.

Reporting to the Maritime Operations Manager, the Commissioning Team Leader will provide day‑to‑day technical direction to commissioning personnel and coordinate the engineering, production and operational resources required to deliver commissioning activities safely, efficiently and professionally.

The role will involve regular travel within the UK and internationally (up to 3 weeks at a time) to support demonstrations, trials, training activities, exhibitions, customer events, commissioning and operational deployments.

• Lead and coordinate the Commissioning Team, providing clear technical direction and support.
• Plan and manage commissioning activities, ensuring the right people, vessels, USVs, equipment and facilities are available.
• Develop and maintain commissioning plans, test schedules and readiness trackers. Lead system integration and testing across hardware, software, communications, propulsion, navigation and sensor systems.
• Oversee power‑up testing, calibration, communications setup and system verification. Ensure vessels and USVs meet defined functional, technical and performance requirements before operational release.
• Lead technical fault finding and troubleshooting, coordinating effective corrective actions through to completion.
• Work closely with Engineering and Production to resolve defects, NCRs and technical issues.
• Maintain accurate commissioning records, test reports, configuration information and technical sign‑off documentation.
• Monitor technical readiness and clearly communicate risks, defects, limitations and outstanding actions.
• Support factory acceptance testing, harbour/shore testing, sea trials, customer acceptance and formal handover.
• Work closely with the Maritime Operations Team Leader and Chief USV Pilot to support the transition of technically accepted assets into operational service.
• Provide technical support during deployments, field servicing, demonstrations and customer activities where required.
• Promote a strong safety culture and ensure all commissioning activities comply with company procedures, risk assessments and HSE requirements.
• Provide commissioning feedback to Engineering and Production to support design improvements, reliability and maintainability.
• Identify and implement improvements to commissioning processes, test methods, documentation and standards.
• Capture lessons learned and help develop a consistent, scalable commissioning capability across the organisation.
• Represent the company professionally when working with customers, suppliers and other external stakeholders.

• Bachelor's degree in Robotics, Engineering or a related field.
• Proven experience in autonomous systems or robotics projects.
• Experience with DC motor controllers, RF equipment, PLCs and LAN integration and networking.
• Excellent troubleshooting experience and problem solving skills.
• Understanding of data comms such as analogue/digital I/O signals as well as RS232/422/485 CANbus.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work effectively with other engineering disciplines.

Experience with Linux and configuring drone parameters with available drone software is a plus.

As we continue to grow, we are recruiting across multiple functions and levels within SYOS. We encourage you to apply for the role that best matches your experience. However, during our review process we may identify other opportunities that could be a good fit for…