Perception Team Lead and Manager

About Us

At Saildrone, we sustainably explore, map, and monitor the oceans to understand, protect, and preserve our world. We provide real-time access to critical data from any ocean on earth, 24/7/365, and use proprietary software applications to transform that data into actionable insights and intelligence. Our fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), powered by renewable wind and solar power, have a minimal carbon footprint and operate without the need for a crewed support vessel. Saildrone works with governments, civil agencies, foundations, universities, and private companies around the globe to drive better information about our oceans and seas—from sailing into the eye of a category 4 hurricane to obtain new data about how storms intensify, collecting new CO2 data in hard-to-reach areas, and counting fish biomass to inform sustainable fishery management, to mapping the ocean floor and reducing illegal fishing and drug trafficking. As a result of our work, Saildrone has been included on Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, earned an Ocean Awards’ Innovation Award, won Best Tech For Good from the Timmy Awards, and was recognized by Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism 50 list of the Top 50 Companies Kickstarting American Renewal. Our first-annual Atlantic hurricane mission with NOAA was included as one of The New York Times’ 21 Things That Happened for the First Time in 2021 and Popular Science's 100 Greatest Innovations of 2021.

We are based in Alameda, CA, with offices in Washington DC and St. Petersburg, FL, and operate our missions worldwide. Saildrone is 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 an integral part of a high-performing multi-disciplinary delivering high impact for humanity and future generations.

The Role:

This position will work closely with engineers, technical leads, product managers, technical program managers and engineering leadership to plan and execute a software roadmap for our perception code running on Saildrones. This will involve software that runs on drones remotely in real time, recording and processing information from sensors and scientific payloads that gather data for clients, and working with machine learning systems which identify ships and obstacles on the horizon. You’ll work closely with all parties involved - managing engineers directly, conducting 1v1s and performance reviews, marshaling and tracking work for engineering teams through to completion each sprint. You’ll also be coordinating with other managers to lay a course for future work and resourcing on a quarterly basis.

Requirements:

• Strong software engineering fundamentals: you will be working closely with a highly technical software stack, so mastery of best practices is essential.
• Not merely tracking work, you will help the team make good software design decisions. We are looking for a candidate who has transitioned their career from software engineering to software management.
• Experience working with sensors (cameras, microphones, lidars, radar, etc) on real-time platforms.
• Demonstrated experience with sensor fusion, tracking of perception system performance metrics, and association, filtering and estimation algorithms.
• Familiarity with machine learning algorithms and comfort working with these algorithms developed by other teams.
• Experience with compiled languages (C, C++) and Python.
• Experience with the Nvidia toolchain and Jetson compute platforms or similar.
• Collaborative work style, placing common goals and business priorities first.
• Proven advocacy for teams and experience leading others to excel is essential.
• Demonstrated track record managing teams of engineers (5 or more).
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science (or related field) plus 5-7+ years working experience, with at least 3+ years experience managing engineering teams.

Bonus Points:

• Experience with perception systems.
• High comfort level prioritizing the work of software engineering teams in a dynamic technology environment.
• Experience with modern Agile software management practices and Jira.

Location: This position is in Alameda, CA. 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:

• Medical, dental and vision plans for you and your dependents.
• Short and relaxing ferry ride from the Ferry Building for SF residents
• Enhanced Parental Leave Programs
• Competitive benefits including excellent medical, life insurance, 401k plan

Catch up on the latest news about us:

The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea – The New York Times

Saildrone Takes the Wraps Off its Voyager Autonomous Research Vehicle – TechCrunch

An Underwater Mountain was Newly Discovered off California Coast – San Francisco Chronicle

The Quest for CO2: You Can’t Capture What You Can’t Find – Inside Unmanned Systems

Hacking the Anthropocene with Survivalist Robots [VIDEO] – Freethink

Here’s What Hurricane Fiona’s Surf Looked Like, from Atop a 50-foot Wave – The Washington Post

An Unprecedented View Inside a Hurricane – EOS

Meet the sailing robots trying to solve climate change – The Hill

They Sailed Into a Hurricane, Now These Unmanned Saildrones are Seeking Data on Our Carbon Uptake – CNN

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.

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

Individuals who require employer sponsorship to remain employed in the United States now or in the future will not be considered for hire for certain positions.

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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