Overview

We are looking for an experienced backend software engineer to join our Smart Signal Control team and develop deeper integration of our ground breaking computer vision sensors with real-world traffic control systems.

Salary: £65,000-£75,000

Reporting to: Andy Jackson, Smart Signal Control Team Lead

Location: London (WFH and flexible options available, 1-2 days per week in the office)

About Us

At VivaCity, we make cities smarter, safer, and more sustainable. We have over 5,000 AI sensors around the world, gathering real-time anonymous data on transport modes, traffic flow, and travel patterns. This is used to gather actionable insights to support strategic decisions to improve the global transport network.

All our solutions are community-centric, using ''privacy by design'' principles. Our ultimate goal is to make the European vision of a Smart City - one which makes the city work effectively, for the community.

We have an open and collaborative culture, intended to maximise innovation while preserving the sense of community that has made VivaCity a fantastic place to work. Read more about what it''s like to work at VivaCity.

About the Role

The Smart Signal Control team is bringing about a step-change in the traffic control industry by enabling real-world systems and infrastructure to make use of the rich, real-time, multi-modal data gathered by VivaCity’s computer vision sensors to make better decisions. We have already developed direct integration with the 3 most common manufacturers of UK signal controllers, and we have controlled the signal timings of junctions in Manchester, Cambridge, Peterborough and Dudley with trials of our Smart Junctions solution.

There has never been a more exciting time in the UK transport industry, with the government investing £70m into signal control as part of their Plan for Drivers, including a £20m Intelligent Traffic Management Fund to bring next-generation technology and machine learning to Britain’s roads. VivaCity is in discussions with many consortia of local authorities and suppliers to develop innovative projects within this programme, with our sensors acting as a key enabler.

Our ambitions are not limited to the UK and we are aiming to integrate our sensors with traffic systems in new markets across the world within the next 3 years, in line with our mission to maximise the contribution of our data towards net zero by unlocking people-centric traffic optimisation.

To achieve these ambitions, we are looking for a versatile systems engineer to join the Smart Signal Control team and play a hands-on role further embedding VivaCity’s sensor product in the signal control ecosystem. Smart Signal Control is a small team (currently 3 people) with ambitions to grow as we mature our product and scale our sales.

Responsibilities:

Designing and testing interfaces between the sensors and infrastructure we haven’t worked with before, such as traffic signal controllers in new markets and territories
Developing the capability to securely stream high-volumes of sensor data with low latency to external systems
Developing new API endpoints to enable external systems to maximise the insight they can derive from historic VivaCity data
Improving the reliability of our traffic control solutions by improving our monitoring capabilities and implementing fail-safe mechanisms
Working with clients to find innovative solutions to their toughest traffic control challenges

About You:

You will be a great collaborator who enjoys working both with other engineers and with colleagues in product and commercial teams to deliver exceptional outcomes for customers, and you support those around you to grow by sharing your expertise.

You will ideally have the following experience and skills:

You will also be comfortable working autonomously and taking ownership of the development of new features.
Strong programming skills, using modern languages such as Python and Go
Experience developing and deploying software on IoT devices, and using technologies such as SSH to remotely debug embedded software
Experience working with and deploying software to Linux operating systems
Experience developing RESTful APIs and endpoints
Experience collaborating with 3rd party engineers and developers to design and agree system interfaces

Understanding of networking and messaging protocols, such as:

HTTP and Websockets
IP, TCP and UDP
Protobuf
ASN.1 and PER
TLS

Any application would be further strengthened by the following:

Experience in the intelligent traffic control sector and familiarity with standards including UG405, TR2500, TR2523 etc
Experience working in a start-up or scale-up environment
Understanding of cellular networks and experience connecting IoT devices to 4G and 5G networks
Experience using monitoring and metric scraping tools for distributed systems, such as Prometheus, Cortex and Grafana
Experience working with real-world safety-critical control systems, in sectors such as robotics, transport, automotive, aerospace etc
Understanding of message broker tools, such as Apache Kafka or RabbitMQ
Understanding of containerisation and orchestration technologies, including Docker and Kubernetes
Understanding of electronics and experience in electrical engineering

What we offer

25 days of holiday
Flexible working hours and work from home
Up to 30 days per year work from abroad
Up to 3 flexible bank holiday days
3% employer pension contribution
£200 total working from home budget
£850 per year learning and development budget
Enhanced parental leave
Up to 3 ‘childcare’ or ‘dependant’ days per year
Mental health support through Spill
Discounted gym memberships through GymFlex
£50 per person per quarter team social budget
Additional entertainment budget and company parties
Office food and drinks
Optional Bupa healthcare and dental care through salary deduction
Eye care vouchers
Seasonal Flu jabs
Cycle to work scheme
Payroll giving through salary sacrifice

You don''t need to have done all of these things before, but to excel in this role, you will need to be keen to learn and comfortable working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. If you''re close to what we''re looking for, please consider applying. Experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way.

We know that diverse ideas and perspectives drive innovation and make us better. We are creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work. We''re an equal opportunities employer and all applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, age, or social background. If you need any reasonable accommodations to help you perform at your best during the application process, please let us know.