R&D Project Manager & Software Lead

Velosco Energy; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A renewable energy technology company is seeking an R&D Project Manager & Software Lead to guide a year-long feasibility programme for an innovative SaaS platform in Edinburgh. This role involves project management across engineering, optimisation, and AI sectors. Ideal candidates have at least 3–5 years of relevant experience, with Agile familiarity and strong communication skills. The role offers an exciting hybrid environment in a supportive startup culture.

Qualifications

• 3-5+ years’ project management experience in engineering, digital, R&D or technical consultancy.
• Experience managing software or digital development projects.
• Strong organisational and communication skills across technical, commercial & research teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day delivery of a multi-work-package innovation project using Agile methodologies.
• Coordinate software prototyping, UX/UI, and SaaS development.
• Work closely with project partners and offshore wind specialists.

Skills

Project management experience

Organisational skills

Communication skills

Agile/Scrum familiarity

Tools

Python

JavaScript

Job description

R&D Project Manager & Software Lead

Velosco Energy is developing an AI‑leveraged, optimisation‑enabled SaaS platform for technical due diligence (TDD), optioneering and cost modelling of renewable energy projects. We’re looking for an R&D Project Manager & Software Lead to run a year‑long feasibility & prototyping programme, with potential follow‑on MVP and commercialisation phases.

Location: Edinburgh / Hybrid. Start: January 2026.

What You’ll Do

• Lead day‑to‑day delivery of a multi‑work‑package innovation project (Agile: sprints, scrums, Kanban, backlog).
• Coordinate software prototyping, UX/UI, SaaS development and multi‑objective optimisation.
• Work closely with our ML & Optimisation Lead, project partners and offshore wind specialists.
• Engage early adopters, grant funders and academic partners to refine use cases and UX.
• Own RAG quality loops (retrieval tuning, context, guardrails) and monitor usage/metrics via tools like Langfuse.
• Oversee documentation, risk register, reporting and QA, and support testing against real industry scenarios.

What We’re Looking For

Essential

• 3–5+ years’ project management experience (engineering, digital, R&D or technical consultancy).
• Experience managing software or digital development projects.
• Strong organisational and communication skills; comfortable across technical, commercial & research teams.
• Agile/Scrum or CAPM®/PM accreditation welcomed.

Nice to Have

• Python / JavaScript familiarity and ability to work closely with developers.
• Exposure to renewables (ideally wind), TDD and/or cost modelling.
• Experience with LLMs, RAG, offline LLM ops and observability (e.g. Langfuse or similar).
• Prior R&D/grant or university collaboration experience.

Why Join Us?

You’ll play a pivotal role in shaping a first‑of‑its‑kind digital solution for offshore wind and wider renewables, working at the intersection of engineering, optimisation and AI. The role is based with the Velosco team at CodeBase, Edinburgh’s flagship tech incubator, in a collaborative startup environment with strong founder networks and great transport links.

Interested?

👉 Read the full Job Description on our website and, if this sounds like you, send your CV and cover letter to jobs@velosco‑energy.com