Senior Marine Systems Engineer

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

We are seeking an experienced systems engineer to drive the specification, integration, and test of new marine drones. You will be responsible for making system design proposals based on models that you develop and run. Proposals will take desires from business development personnel, constraints from engineering, production and finance, and help guide decisions to maximize endurance and capabilities, and to minimize complexity. As proposals are accepted and developed, you will become responsible for system diagramming and harnessing. As prototypes get built you will be responsible for specifying and coordinating performance testing against mission requirements and your design.

Responsibilities

• Survey internally developed and off-the-shelf electrical and electromechanical components and subsystems to put together block diagrams for upcoming autonomous boats. This will include trade studies for different approaches to a wide array of problems, e.g., computing architectures, camera systems, acoustic arrays, new ocean science sensors, thermals, etc.
• Confirm with internal stakeholders across multiple teams the suitability-for-purpose of the proposed system designs and iterate rapidly to close any gaps.
• Own the single-source-of-truth system diagram from which all engineers understand topology and connectivity of various configurations of vessels. This will involve complete ownership of the system diagram, as well as managing contributors to detailed harness design drawings and jumping in and detailing those harness designs as resource constraints demand.
• Prepare test plans to verify the functionality of completed systems; manage others and also participate in the execution of those tests.

Required Skills and Experience

• Ability to use Autocad/Draftsight (or other) to design and produce high level thru to production level drawings and documentation (we need more than block diagrams here)
• Ability to produce supporting documentation of systems designs to include electrical load analysis, protective coordination studies, short circuit analysis, Design verification test procedures-and enclosure BTU calculations to support cooling design
• Familiarity with mechanical CAD and PLM systems.
• Ability to produce useable schematics from R&D hardware installations-(where no drawings exist)
• Ability to specify and select (available) components based on internal specifications and regulatory requirements
• Knowledge of marine cable installation standards and requirements-and ability to specify those cable based on existing systems requirements
• Knowledge of sensor and communications such as RS422/RS485/Serial-RTD, 4-20mA, analog voltage, NMEA, can bus etc- along with the ability to integrate and select these components for existing systems infrastructure
• Knowledge of >50VDC electrical distribution systems
• An understanding of marine systems piping systems for closed and open loop cooling, fuel, oil, Bilge and combustion air systems
• Familiarity with marine electrical standards such as ABS/Lloyds/USCG/ABYC etc
• Ability to read and understand electrical, mechanical, and material technical documentation and marketing materials.
• Strong sense of trade-offs and ability to clearly communicate costs and benefits to specific architectures and decisions in order to guide the design process.
• Debugging skills; ability to bisect problems and propose and execute tests to narrow down to root cause.
• Basic familiarity of what kinds of test equipment are available to verify system performance; strong ability to research what might be available to add additional coverage.
• Communication and leadership skills to manage technicians, validation engineers and associated vendors, and other systems engineers.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field and or 5+ years of relevant working experience

Desired Skills and Experience

• Ability to model in NX/solid works to validate component layout and design cable routing and bend radiuses etc.
• Familiarity with production processes and assembly to make educated recommendations for easy to understand, easy to build, and easy to maintain vehicles.
• Understanding of electrical and system level test equipment (e.g., VNA, spectrum analyzer, oscilloscope, DAQ systems, etc) to be able to direct test engineers in test design, setup, and execution.

Physical Requirements

• Must be able to stand, walk, use hands to grasp, push and pull, bend, lift up to 50 lbs, and reach with your hands and arms. Must be able to perform work on a computer that requires ability to operate a keyboard and other peripheral devices.

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

A reasonable estimate of the current range is $132,000-$150,000 annually.

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.

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

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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