Innovation Team Member

Petroleum Experts; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 40,000 - GBP 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading engineering software company in the United Kingdom seeks an Innovation Team Member to shape the next generation of technical capabilities. The ideal candidate will work in a dynamic environment, contributing to areas like AI and machine learning while collaborating with multidisciplinary teams. Candidates should possess an advanced technical degree and solid programming skills in Python, C++, or C#. An exceptional salary package and performance-related bonus are offered.

Benefits

Highly competitive salary

Performance related annual bonus

36 days annual leave

Private health and dental insurance

Pension contributions matched up to 10%

Visa sponsorship

Relocation assistance

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a technical field.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience with technical or scientific software development.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to early-stage research and prototyping.
• Design and implement algorithms for engineering problems.
• Translate research code into robust software.
• Collaborate with experts to develop practical solutions.
• Define technical approaches for innovation projects.

Skills

Analytical skills

Problem-solving

Collaborative ability

Communication skills

Programming in Python

Programming in C++

Programming in C#

Education

Master’s or PhD in Engineering, Physical Sciences, Mathematics, Computer Science

Tools

Python

C++

C#

Job description

Innovation Team Member (Research Scientist/Software Engineer)

PE Limited is a market leader in integrated engineering software solutions, delivering state-of-the-art modelling and optimisation products, primarily to the global oil and gas, mining, and renewable industries. Our cutting-edge tools support critical decision-making for all the world’s leading energy companies by integrating complex data into powerful, easy-to-use models.

Established in 1990, we have grown into a hugely successful business with more than 450 clients across the world, ranging from small consultancies to major multinational corporations. Our expansion led us to relocating our UK Headquarters from Edinburgh to Guildford in 2025, with further growth anticipated internationally.

With ambitious plans to expand into new industry sectors, this is an exciting time to join us as we grow our brand presence and broaden our impact across the energy landscape.

About this Vacancy

PE Limited is seeking a Member of the Innovation Team to help shape and deliver the next generation of technical capabilities across our software portfolio.

The Innovation Team operates at the frontier between research, advanced engineering, and product development. We explore new technologies, develop novel modelling and optimization approaches, and translate cutting-edge ideas into practical tools that deliver real value to our users.

This role is intentionally broad. We are interested in candidates across the spectrum from research scientists to research software engineers and production-grade developers. Depending on your background and strengths, you may focus more on early-stage R&D, applied algorithm and model development, or the software engineering required to turn new ideas into robust, scalable software.

You will work on problems spanning areas such as AI and machine learning, optimization and control, digital twins, agent-based and probabilistic systems, and advanced scientific computing. You will collaborate closely with domain experts, product teams, and software engineers to help bring innovative concepts into the core of our technology stack.

This is a high-impact role suited to someone who enjoys working in an exploratory environment, is comfortable with ambiguity, and wants to play a key part in shaping the technical direction of future products.

Depending on your experience and interests, your work may include a combination of:

• Contributing to early-stage research and prototyping of new modelling, optimi z ation, AI, or simulation approaches.
• Designing and implementing algorithms, numerical methods, and computational models for complex engineering and scientific problems.
• Translating exploratory research code into reliable, maintainable, and performant software suitable for wider internal or customer use.
• Working across languages and environments (e.g., Python for research, C++/ C# or other compiled languages for production systems).
• Collaborating with researchers, domain specialists, and software engineers to identify promising ideas and develop them into practical solutions.
• Helping define technical approaches and best practices for innovation projects.
• Contributing to code quality through testing, documentation, and sound software engineering principles.
• Taking ownership of technical workstreams, from concept through to implementation and integration.

For more experienced candidates, there will be opportunities to:

• Provide technical direction on innovation-focused projects.
• Mentor or guide other engineers and researchers.
• Help shape the longer-term technical roadmap in selected areas of innovation.

Qualifications

We are open to a range of profiles. You might be more research-oriented, more engineering-oriented, or a hybrid of both.

• An advanced degree (Master’s, PhD, or equivalent experience) in a technical field such as Engineering, Physical Sciences, Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience tackling complex technical challenges.
• Solid programming ability and experience developing technical or scientific software in one or more languages (Python, C++, C# preferred).
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to explain technical ideas clearly.

For more research-focused candidates, experience in areas such as:

• Machine learning, optimi z ation, control, probabilistic modelling, or related fields.
• Development of new algorithms, models, or computational methods.
• Scientific computing, simulation, or numerical methods.

For more software engineering-focused candidates, experience in areas such as:

• Professional software development, ideally in scientific or technical domains.
• Writing high-quality, maintainable code in one or more languages (e.g., C++, C# or similar).
• Software design, testing and maintainability.

Additionally beneficial (notrequired):

• Experience working in an applied R&D, innovation, or advanced technology team.
• Exposure to interdisciplinary technical areas such as digital twins, agent-based systems, reinforcement learning, or advanced optimisation.
• Experience mentoring others, leading small technical projects, or helping guide technical direction.

Package

We offer an exceptional package which includes the following:

• Highly competitive salary
• Performance related annual bonus
• 36 days annual leave
• Private health and dental insurance
• Salary sacrifice schemes, incl. cycle to work
• Pension contributions matched up to 10% by the Company
• International travel
• Annual employee medical
• Visa sponsorship (where applicable)
• Relocation assistance (where applicable)

The company encourages and structures its salary based on personal performance and contribution to the success of others.