About Us
Saildrone builds autonomous systems that dominate the world’s oceans
With more than 2 million nautical miles sailed and 50,000 days at sea, Saildrone has earned the trust of governments worldwide. Our unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) deliver continuous, real-time intelligence in the toughest oceans on Earth—giving our partners faster awareness, stronger security, and a decisive edge at sea.
Our USVs are long-range, extreme-endurance platforms powered by advanced sensors and proprietary AI - they have been designed to operate where no crewed vessel can. They collect critical insights above and below the surface to support border security, law enforcement, naval operations, and undersea infrastructure protection.
Headquartered in Alameda, CA, with offices in Washington, DC, and global deployment hubs, Saildrone operates missions worldwide. Join a fast-moving, mission-driven team at the intersection of AI, autonomy, and defense technology—where data turns into intelligence, and intelligence drives action.
The Role
Saildrone uses an onboard perception system for ocean monitoring and navigational safety. Using a combination of machine vision, radar, acoustic and AIS data, our worldwide fleet of drones perceives the world in real-time to combat illegal fishing and safely sail through crowded seas. Ocean-going drones present a unique challenge for high-performance perception: our fleet is solar and wind powered, and can be deployed for up to one year without returning to port. These challenges make efficient algorithms a must and require thoughtful over-the-air deployment strategies. We’re looking for a top-notch Staff Perception Engineer to help drive projects within the Perception Team taking on these unique challenges.
As a Staff Perception Engineer at Saildrone, you will not only bring technical expertise but also serve as a key technical leader within the Perception Team. Being a technical leader means driving the team towards innovative solutions, fostering a collaborative environment, and setting a high standard for technical excellence. You will be responsible for guiding cross-functional project teams through complex challenges, making critical technical decisions, and ensuring that the team's output meets Saildrone's rigorous quality and performance standards. Your role will involve mentoring junior engineers, facilitating knowledge sharing, and leading by example in writing efficient, high-quality code. By embodying technical leadership, you will empower your teammates to excel, drive the team’s success, and contribute significantly to Saildrone's mission of enhancing ocean monitoring and navigational safety through cutting-edge perception systems.
This role is required to be onsite in Alameda, CA in the Bay Area 3 days per week - this is our hybrid model. This is not a remote position.
Responsibilities
- Lead technical initiatives within the Perception Team to improve performance and add new functionality for individual sensors and the algorithms that fuse that data together.
- Work cross-functionally with product managers, technical leads and system engineers to make critical decisions and ensure designs will meet overall system requirements
- Design, develop and evaluate perception and tracking algorithms to fuse data from cameras, radars, hydrophones and other sensors.
- Write efficient, well-tested C++ code to run on real-time operations systems.
- Work with cross-functional teams to ensure valid integration of sensor hardware into our perception systems.
- Work with machine learning engineers to ensure integration and end-to-end system performance is optimized on-board.
- Design, develop and maintain large-scale perception regression tests and replay scenarios to aid rapid software development and evaluate and track performance.
- Productionize and harden algorithms for real-world applications.
- Work with platform and UI engineers to ensure display of useful sensor information to users for near real time perception around the vessels as well as intelligent navigation.
- Lead initiatives and meetings within the team and functional area.
- Motivate and empower teammates to achieve a higher level of performance.
- Identify and propose strategies around technical problems affecting the team while communicating standards and getting buy-in on solutions.
Required Skills and Experience
- 8+ years professional experience in a relevant domain, with prior experience tech leading projects. An advanced degree can substitute for experience.
- 5+ years of professional experience writing production grade software
- BS or MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related field
- 5+ years of experience with C++. This is our main coding language in these systems
- Understanding and familiarity with perception systems and algorithms
- Experience with robotics middleware such as ROS, ZMQ, gRPC
- Familiarity with machine learning algorithms
- Familiarity with GPU accelerated algorithm development
- Familiarity with signal processing algorithms
- A desire to solve challenging robotics problems
- Excellent communication and leadership skills
- Experience with mentorship
Desired Skills and Experience
- Hands-on experience with computer vision systems, online state estimation, sensor fusion and machine learning
- Experience with perception sensing technologies like radar, camera, acoustics, etc.
- Experience with tracking and filtering algorithms, such as Particle and Kalman filters
- Experience Python and SQL
- Experience with deployment to Nvidia chipsets for robotics, such as the AGX
- Experience working in robotics or autonomous vehicle industries
Physical Requirements
- Work is performed on a computer and requires ability to operate a keyboard and other peripheral devices.
Location: This position is hybrid in Alameda, CA (Onsite 3 days per week required). Our waterfront office offers beautiful views of San Francisco Bay in always sunny Alameda.
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.
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
Catch up on the latest news about us:
Danish Military Using Robotic Sailboats for Surveillance in Baltic and North Seas – AP
USVs Guarding the Global Backbone – Inside Unmanned Systems
NATO Testing Baltic Sea Drones to Track Russian Warships, Freighters – Defense News
US Navy Saildrones On – SIGNAL Magazine
The British Engineer Behind the US Navy’s High-tech Ocean Drones – The Times of London
Counter-drug Sea Drones Utilized by Navy as Trump Ramps Up Military Resources at the Border – Fox News
Saildrone, Palantir Partner to Use AI to Streamline USV Manufacturing, Operations – Breaking Defense
An Underwater Mountain was Newly Discovered off California Coast – San Francisco Chronicle
TIME 100 Most Influential Companies 2024: Saildrone
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.
We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
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.
#LI-Hybrid
#LI-LP1
Top Skills
What We Do
Saildrone provides comprehensive turnkey data solutions for maritime security, ocean mapping, and ocean data. The company provides real-time access to critical data from any ocean on earth, 24/7/365, and uses proprietary software applications to transform that data into actionable insights and intelligence. Saildrone’s fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), powered by renewable wind and solar power, have a minimal carbon footprint and are designed to make ocean intelligence cost-effective at scale. Saildrones operate 24/7/365, without the need for a crewed support vehicle, and have sailed over 750,000 nautical miles from the Arctic to the Antarctic and spent more than 17,000 days at sea in the harshest ocean conditions on the planet.
