Senior Staff Software Engineer, Data

About Us

Saildrone is an oceanographic survey and maritime defense company creating a paradigm shift in how navies, civil governments, and commercial organizations obtain the real-time, accurate data required to monitor and protect our oceans. Saildrone’s fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) carry purpose-built payloads supporting border protection, critical infrastructure security, hydrographic survey, offshore energy, and metocean monitoring. Powered by renewable wind and solar energy, Saildrone USVs provide long-duration operations measured in months, not days. Proprietary software applications and machine learning technology transform collected data into actionable insights and intelligence.

We are based in Alameda, CA, with offices in Washington DC and St. Petersburg, FL, and operate missions worldwide. We are backed by top-tier investors in the frontier tech and sustainability sectors, including Social Capital, Capricorn, Lux Capital, BOND Capital, and Emerson Collective.

This is an exciting opportunity with a fast-growing team at the cutting-edge intersection of big data services and autonomous hardware. You will be part of a high-performing, multidisciplinary team that delivers high impact for humanity and future generations.

The Role

Data is Everything. The Saildrone fleet of ocean-going vessels tirelessly sails the world's seas piecing together the world's largest high-resolution meteorological oceanic dataset at a rate, precision and price point that was previously impossible. With NOAA approved data precision and demonstrated reliability, two other datasets that you'll be working with are ocean floor depth mapping and maritime domain awareness, which is anything associated with the safety and security of our oceans, such as illegal fishing and drug enforcement. You will build the data pipeline powering both our external APIs and internal business intelligence about our drones. An effort spanning architecture, development, reliability, and scale, it is critical in our mission to deliver planetary insights.

Required Skills and Experience

• 10+ years of relevant experience and demonstrated track record of tech leading large cross- functional projects
• Bachelors or Masters degree in computer engineering, computer science, or other related field
• Experience in data pipeline/platform services and customer-facing APIs in cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.)
• Working knowledge of relational databases (Postgres, AWS Aurora, PostGIS)
• Experience with streaming technologies such Kafka, AWS Kinesis, Flink
• Familiar with Argo, Dagster, Airflow, or Luigi workflow orchestration engines

Desired Skills and Experience

• Experience working with time series, geospatial, geo-temporal, or map-tile data would be a huge bonus
• Experience with data from drones or robots, such as those from ROS-based systems, would also be very helpful
• Expertise in Python or NodeJS programming languages
• Familiar with Parquet or Protobuf data file formats
• Working knowledge of Athena/Presto, BigQuery, Redshift, Snowflake, or Vertica
• Experience with serverless functions, such as AWS Lambda
• NoSQL experience - DynamoDB, Redis, Influx, Timescale
• Knowledge of visualization tools such as Jupyter Notebooks, Tableau, Streamlit
• Experience with developing and deploying distributed services with Docker
• Built data pipelines for Machine Learning applications

Physical Requirements: Work is performed on a computer and requires ability to operate a keyboard and other peripheral devices.

Location: For candidates in the Bay Area, this position is hybrid in Alameda, CA (minimum of 3 days per week in office). We are also open to this role as a Remote position for candidates outside of the Bay Area.
Our waterfront office offers beautiful views of San Francisco Bay in always sunny Alameda. Even our walls have good karma, our offices mix software development with a hardware production line in the former airplane hangar used to film 'The Matrix'.

Benefits:

• Paid time off, including vacation, bereavement, jury duty, sick time and parental leave
• Comprehensive and competitive medical, dental and vision plans, and HSA with employer matching.
• Company sponsored life insurance
• Stock Options
• Annual stipend for continued learning and development
• Quarterly company BBQs at our Alameda HQ (bring your friends and family!)
• Free Bay Area Public Transportation via AlamedaTMA with the BayPass Clipper Card
• Plenty of snacks in our 3 office locations
• Dog-friendly work environment

Catch up on the latest news about us:

TIME 100 Most Influential Companies 2024: Saildrone

The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea – The New York Times
An Underwater Mountain was Newly Discovered off California Coast – San Francisco Chronicle

The Navy Is Using Robot Ships to Deter Human Smuggling out of Haiti – Defense One

How US Navy Experiments Could Get Drones Beyond Spying and Into Battle – Defense News

USVs Could Deter IUU Fishing – USNI Proceedings

Mullen, Former Joint Chiefs Chairman, to Lead Board for Unmanned Tech Firm Saildrone – Breaking Defense

Saildrone’s First Aluminum Surveyor Autonomous Vessel Splashes Down for Navy Testing – TechCrunch

Saildrone Featured Videos Playlist

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
At Saildrone, we value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes people from all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We believe that a diverse and inclusive team leads to innovation and better problem-solving. We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, ethnicities, races, sexual orientations, disabilities, and backgrounds.
Individual compensation packages are based on geographic location, scope of the role, relevant experience, and the ability to deal with complexity and problem solve within our organization, among other factors.
All employees are required to provide proof of authorization to work in the U.S. within their first 3 days of work. Please note that the Company does not sponsor employees for work visas or permanent resident cards to work in the U.S. If you need sponsorship for a work visa or green card, you will not be qualified for employment with Saildrone.

Any unsolicited resumes/candidate profiles submitted through our website or to personal email accounts of employees of Saildrone are considered property of Saildrone and are not subject to payment of agency fees.

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