Research & Innovation Manager; Automation

About the Role

R&I Manager (Automation) – part of Centrica’s Energised Futures, the in‑house science, research and innovation incubator. The role leads and mentors a team of research professionals, oversees highly technical projects, and owns the strategy and roadmap for the automation theme.

• Lead and develop a team of research engineers.
• Ensure reliable delivery of high‑quality research and innovation outputs.
• Own the Energised Futures’ strategy around the automation pillar.
• Collaborate and engage with stakeholders across Centrica, the energy industry, startups and academia.
• Support the wider business to adopt and deploy outputs to maximise impact.
• Monitor and engage with industry and academia through conferences and journals.
• Help shape the team and its processes, contributing to the broader roadmap for the organisation and industry.

• 5+ years designing complex statistical algorithms or machine learning models:
  PhD plus 2+ years or master’s degree plus 4+ years of research or equivalent industry experience in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Control Systems, or a related field.
• Experience with a spectrum of libraries, frameworks and services such as Tensor Flow or PyTorch, AWS Bedrock, MLFlow or Sage Maker, Lang Graph or MCP for AI orchestration.
• Strong programming skills in Python (bonus: C++, Scala, Rust).
• Practical experience implementing and deploying solutions for supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning problems.
• Strong mathematical and analytical mindset.
• Energy‑industry knowledge strongly preferred (smart energy technologies, energy management, connectivity, markets, trading techniques, regulatory constraints).

• Adaptable growth mindset – curiosity and a desire to learn and develop beyond current expertise.
• Proactive, creative and collaborative problem‑solving in ambiguous, uncertain environments.
• Strong sense of ownership, initiative and accountability for work and the wider team.
• Interpersonal skills for effective cross‑functional teamwork.
• Technical communication – ability to discuss and explain complex concepts such as machine learning, energy systems, hardware control, and IoT devices.
• Ethical integrity – uphold high ethical standards, transparency and openness in all research and innovation activities.

• Attractive salary and compensation package.
• Highly competitive additional benefits (varies by UK or Belgium base).
• Flexible hybrid working pattern – two days in office, overall flexibility.
• Opportunity to work with a high‑calibre, diverse team and have a high impact.
• Support for diversity, inclusion and wellbeing, including a robust carers policy.

Based in London, with a future London‑centred team. Ability to travel between London and Antwerp is expected.