Be at the heart of actionFly remote-controlled drones into enemy territory to gather vital information.

Apply Now

Head of VLA Development

London
1 month ago
Applications closed

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Head of Engineering Operations

Head of Engineering

Head of Automation

Head of Data Science

Head of CRM

Head of Sales - Contract Electronics Manufacturing Services

Specialists in sectors like manufacturing, construction, and logistics face rising challenges. We believe that our mission can prevent the massive shortages in fast - paced world and its specific dynamics. All involved into robotics industry.

What You'll Do :

Set and drive the strategy for representation learning, behaviour cloning andreinforcement learning (RL).

Lead large-scale post-training of multi-modal LLM / VLM / VLA systems; continuously integrate new sensor modalities (vision, audio, proprioception, LiDAR, point cloud, …).

Build always-on pipelines that collect sim + tele-op logs, store them in a versioned lake, transform / label streams with weak supervision, curate balanced datasets and run an evaluation loop that feeds fresh failure cases back into training.

Partner with MLOps and Data Platform teams to scale distributed training and optimisemodels for real-time edge deployment.

Hire, mentor and unblock a small, elite team of research scientists and

We're Looking For :

6+ years building deep-learning systems, 2+ years technical team

Hands-on experience with LLM / VLM architecture design, billion-parameter training and fine-tuning.

Proven robotics, autonomous driving or LLMs expertise (behaviour cloning, actor-critic, offline RL) applied to robotics or autonomous driving.

Nice to have :

Deployment on humanoid or legged

Demonstrated record of shipping to real robots or vehicles and iterating via data-flywheel

Experience in autonomous vehicle control and

Research or open-source work in multi-modal transformers, diffusion control, world

Familiarity with OpenVLA, Physical Intelligence (π) models or other open-source VLA frameworks. - a bit used with OpenVLA no Physical Intelligence

What We Offer :

Competitive salary plus participation in our Stock Option Plan

Paid vacation with adjustments based on your location to comply with local labor laws

Travel opportunities to our Vancouver and Boston offices

Office perks: free breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and regular team events

Freedom to influence the product and own key initiatives

Collaboration with top-tier engineers, researchers, and product experts in AI and robotics

Startup culture prioritizing speed, transparency, and minimal bureaucracy

How to Apply:

For more information on the role, or an informal discussion regarding opportunities we have available, please contact Alicja Szymanska on (phone number removed) or email :

Why work with Proactive?

Proactive Global is an industry leading, specialist engineering recruitment agency focused on the automation, manufacturing and advanced technology We offer specialist recruitment services to a niche customer base, vetting that our clients offer the best opportunities for your career. Proactive encourages and promotes equality and diversity within the workforce. We act with honesty, integrity and impartiality, ensuring your application is considered on its own merits and without bias.

When registering with Proactive you will have the opportunity to apply for some of the most interesting, specialist, opportunities in the marketplace, with the biggest companies in the Follow us on Linkedin and Facebook for industry news and download our app for live notifications about newly listed vacancies. We look forward to helping you find your next role!
Proactive Global is committed to equality in the workplace and is an equal opportunity employer.
Proactive Global is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Robotics Recruitment Trends 2025 (UK): What Job Seekers Need To Know About Today’s Hiring Process

Summary: UK robotics hiring has shifted from toolbox checklists to capability‑driven evaluation that emphasises deployed systems, safety, reliability and total cost of ownership. Employers want proof you can ship and sustain robots in production—industrial arms & cobots, AMRs/AGVs, field robots, surgical/med‑tech, warehouse automation, inspection & maintenance. This guide explains what’s changed, what to expect in interviews and how to prepare—especially for robotics software engineers (ROS/ROS 2), perception/vision engineers, controls & motion planners, mechatronics & embedded, safety & compliance, test/V&V, DevOps/SRE for fleets, and robotics product managers. Who this is for: Robotics software/perception/controls engineers, mechatronics & embedded, simulation & test, DevOps/SRE for robotics fleets, HRI/UX, safety/compliance, field/commissioning engineers, and product/technical programme managers in the UK.

Why Robotics Careers in the UK Are Becoming More Multidisciplinary

Robotics used to be the domain of mechanical, electrical and software engineers. In the UK today, robotics is more than motors and control loops — it’s about perception, interaction, trust, regulation and integration into human environments. That evolution means robotics careers are becoming more multidisciplinary. Modern robots interact with people, collect data, operate under constraints, and often assist in safety-critical environments (healthcare, manufacturing, transport). So engineers now collaborate closely with legal, ethical, psychological, linguistic and design experts. In this article, we explore why UK robotics careers are evolving into multidisciplinary roles, how law, ethics, psychology, linguistics & design intersect with robotics, and how job-seekers and employers can adapt to this shift.

Robotics Team Structures Explained: Who Does What in a Modern Robotics Department

Robotics is transforming manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, agriculture, entertainment and more. In the UK, advances in robotics span autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), robotic arms, surgical robotics, drone systems, human-robot interaction, and collaborative robots (cobots). Building effective robotics systems requires not only strong hardware and software, but also finely coordinated teams with clear roles from research through deployment and maintenance. If you’re a candidate applying for robotics roles or an employer hiring through RoboticsJobs.co.uk, this guide will help you understand who does what in a mature robotics department, how the lifecycle of a robotics product works, what skills and qualifications UK employers typically expect, what salaries look like, common challenges, and best practices for structuring teams that deliver.