Senior Engineering Manager, Field Service

THE COMPANY

Saildrone is a maritime defense company and the global leader in autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). With more ocean miles and real-world operational experience than any USV manufacturer or operator, Saildrone maintains active, combat-deployed systems supporting national security and force projection around the world, 24/7/365.

Saildrone's manufacturing and R&D headquarters are located in Alameda, CA, with business development and sales operations in Washington, DC, and deployment hubs in Europe and the Middle East. By combining proven autonomous operations, edge computing, advanced sensing, renewable power, and the most advanced and robust unmanned surface technology on the planet, Saildrone is shaping how the Navy of the future operates.

Join a fast-moving, mission-driven team at the forefront of maritime security and autonomous innovation.

THE POSITION

Saildrone is seeking a Senior Engineering Manager, Technical Field Operations to join our Fleet Management team within the Operations group. Reporting directly to the Vice President (VP) of Fleet Operations, you will play a critical role in acting as the senior organizational architect of reliability and the lead for our front-line technical defense of Saildrone's autonomous fleet. We are looking for a technical leader who creates clarity from ambiguity, thrives during high-priority incidents, and has a proven track record of transforming "messy" real-world telemetry into hardened, scalable engineering solutions.

THE TEAM

The Fleet Management team is responsible for the 24/7 performance, reliability, and operational success of Saildrone's autonomous vehicles in live deployments. We are focused on maintaining continuous fleet overwatch and transforming field data into actionable technical roadmaps to deliver robust solutions for global maritime domain awareness, operating in a national security and defense environment. This team bridges the gap between high-level engineering strategy and real-world hardware performance in the harshest maritime conditions.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES

* Perform technical watch floor leadership and fleet overwatch to achieve 24/7 mission success, managing on-call rotations and ensuring high-stakes incident response across global deployments.

* Be accountable for fleet reliability and uptime metrics (SLIs, SLOs, and Error Budgets), moving past superficial symptoms to identify and resolve systemic failures in embedded systems and networking.

* Work closely with Engineering and Mission Management to align on priorities, advocating for the balance between technical debt and new features to ensure successful delivery of shared goals.

* Carry out advanced Root Cause Analysis (RCA) using Linux command-line tools and scripting (Python/Bash) to automate diagnostics and parse large datasets for trend analysis.

* Monitor for system failures and performance degradation, developing "playbooks" and automated tools to reduce system variation and accelerate response times.

* Manage Fleet of Engineering Development Drones, processing R&D requests testing and validating both hardware and software changes.

* Adhere to engineering standards and operational protocols, while driving the evolution of fleet operations through long-term hardware fixes and software optimizations.

* Provide timely updates on fleet health, incidents, and data-backed narratives to the COO and executive leadership to support rapid strategic decision-making.

* Establish a culture of accountability, ownership, and engineering excellence, building and scaling a world-class team capable of operating defense-grade autonomous systems at scale.

* Meet commitments to build a high-performing team by recruiting and mentoring talent, fostering a culture of rapid iteration, technical reliability, and operational readiness.

THE QUALIFICATIONS

* Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering (Electrical, Mechanical, Systems) or a related technical discipline.

* 5+ years of experience in engineering leadership or lead roles, with a proven track record of managing teams supporting complex hardware, robotics, or autonomous systems.

* Demonstrated proficiency in embedded systems and network architecture, including deep familiarity with protocols (TCP/IP, CAN bus, RS-485, RS-232, SPI, I2C) and system-level debugging.

* Proven ability to interpret schematics and identify failure points using industry-standard CAD/EDA tools (e.g., NX, Solidworks, Altium, or KiCad).

* Strong experience with Linux systems and the ability to write Bash or Python scripts to automate repetitive diagnostics and system interrogation.

* Ability to clearly communicate complex technical failures into clear narratives for cross-functional partners and executive leadership.

* Ability to work effectively in marine and field environments, including up to 15% travel, working at heights, and the ability to safely lift or carry up to 50 lbs.

* Working knowledge of autonomous system payloads and the ability to make critical, high-impact…