Senior Service Engineer

About Us

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.

Saildrone's autonomous surface vehicles operate for unprecedented periods of time in the most unforgiving environments on the planet. Assembling these vehicles for their mission and maintaining the fleet for the mission duration must be performed with a high degree of skill and consistency. As a Service Engineer, you will be responsible for developing the processes and reference documentation required for successful and consistent troubleshooting and maintenance.

You will collaborate with a variety of teams in engineering, operations, and production. You will develop reference equipment, process, maintenance and service documentation that meets industry standards.

You will need to develop and execute assembly and service plans to sustain and improve Saildrone's systems  will become an invaluable member of the team, hold our common deadlines, and execute at a higher level of excellence with each iteration.

• Develop Drone Operation and Maintenance Manuals by condensing information available from OEMs, collaborating with internal SMEs and good industry practice.

• Collect product information from data sheets, specifications, operating procedures, maintenance schedules, spare parts lists, and safety guidelines related to the drones.

• Develop and maintain clear, concise documentation for troubleshooting, maintenance, and process improvements.

• Verify accuracy of diagrams, schematics, and BOMS.

• Support the change management process after handover from R&D. Develop bill of materials, tools, consumables and spares lists. Ensure documentation is developed and updated. Review, communicate, track and document the field roll out.

• Support the introduction of new products by collaborating with engineering teams, developing training materials, and ensuring a smooth handover to field service teams.

• Drive quality and safety improvements through design, planning and procedures.

• Represent field service in engineering change conversations.

• Develop and implement new work processes and procedures.

• Improve the process flow and field organization using best practices in Lean.

• Provide training and troubleshooting support to level up the skills of field service technicians, ensuring they are equipped to handle increasingly complex systems.

• Travel to field sites and engage with field technicians to observe, audit, and refine workflows in real-time, ensuring technicians have the tools and processes necessary for success.

• Willing and able to travel domestically and internationally as well as work extended/weekend hours, when necessary.

A top performer in this role will be highly motivated by and skilled in the following areas:

• Practical experience and technical expertise with electromechanical systems.

• Capable of producing high-quality documentation that is accurate, comprehensive, and user-friendly.

• Understand how to organize and condense information to create navigable and referencable documentation that

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, particularly in identifying inefficiencies and implementing practical solutions in…