About the job
THE COMPANY
Saildrone is a pioneering maritime defense organization, recognized as the global leader in autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). With unmatched operational experience and extensive ocean mileage, Saildrone actively deploys combat-ready systems that support national security and force projection globally, 24/7/365.
Our manufacturing and R&D headquarters are based in Alameda, CA, with business development and sales operations in Washington, DC, and deployment hubs in Europe and the Middle East. By integrating proven autonomous operations, edge computing, advanced sensing technologies, and renewable energy sources, Saildrone is revolutionizing the operational capabilities of the Navy for the future. Join our dynamic, mission-driven team at the forefront of maritime security and autonomous technologies.
THE POSITION
We are in search of a Senior Engineering Manager for Technical Field Operations to become a part of our Fleet Management team within the Operations division. This role reports directly to the Vice President of Fleet Operations and is pivotal in shaping the reliability architecture and leading the technical defense of Saildrone’s autonomous fleet. The ideal candidate will excel in clarifying ambiguity, managing high-stakes incidents, and transforming complex real-world telemetry into robust, scalable engineering solutions.
THE TEAM
The Fleet Management team is tasked with ensuring the performance, reliability, and operational success of Saildrone’s autonomous vehicles during live deployments. Our focus is on maintaining constant fleet oversight and converting field data into actionable technical strategies to provide resilient solutions for global maritime domain awareness, within a national security and defense framework. This team effectively bridges the gap between high-level engineering strategies and tangible hardware performance in challenging maritime environments.
THE RESPONSIBILITIES
- Lead technical watchfloor operations and fleet oversight to ensure 24/7 mission success, managing on-call rotations and executing high-priority incident responses across global deployments.
- Oversee fleet reliability and uptime metrics (SLIs, SLOs, and Error Budgets), delving beyond surface-level issues to identify and rectify systemic failures within embedded systems and networking.
- Collaborate closely with Product Engineering and Mission Management to prioritize initiatives, advocating for a balance between technical debt and operational efficiency.

