Vice President, Mission Execution

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 is seeking a Vice President of Fleet Operations to join our Operations organization. Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, you will play a critical role in leading the global management of our uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and scaling global operations to support revenue growth and customer outcomes. The Vice President of Fleet Operations is responsible for the end-to-end readiness of the entire Saildrone fleet, from commissioning of new vehicles, launch & deployment of customer missions, through 24/7 overwatch and field service keeping vehicles operating in some of the most challenging locations.

We are looking for a senior operational leader who creates clarity from complexity and drives execution in high-stakes environments to deliver reliable results at global scale.

The Fleet Operations organization is responsible for the planning, deployment, and real-time operation of Saildrone’s global USV fleet. We focus on delivering safe, reliable, and scalable maritime operations to support critical missions across defense, security, and commercial applications. This team operates in a 24/7, globally distributed environment, working closely with Fleet Managers, Technical Engineering Operations, Logistics, Shore Operations, Field Service, and Commissioning teams to ensure mission readiness, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.

• Fleet Strategy & Performance Ownership:
  Be accountable for fleet utilization, sizing, and commissioning, including ownership of uptime, MTTR, cost efficiency, & utilization rates. Critical KPI’s include drone utilization, uptime, readiness, cost of service, and general operating costs of labor.
• Customer & Cross-Functional Alignment:
  Work closely with Customer Success & Program Management teams to deliver contracted missions on time, within budget, and to defined performance and quality standards.
• Operational Systems & Processes:
  Carry out day-to-day operations through the technical operations, shore operations, logistics, and field service systems to meet responsiveness, return-to-mission, and operational readiness targets.
• Risk, Escalation & Incident Management:
  Monitor for operational, technical, and regulatory risks; mitigate incidents, manage escalation paths, and resolve critical mission blockers to minimize downtime, safety exposure, and customer impact. Manage global support operations for 24/7 service & overwatch.
• Safety, Compliance & Standardization:
  Establish and enforce safety protocols, regulatory compliance (including maritime and export controls), and standardized operational practices to improve safety outcomes, reliability, and scalability across global operations. Establish standard operating footprints across international site locations.
• Operational Intelligence & Reporting:
  Provide timely updates on fleet performance, mission feasibility, capacity constraints, utilization forecasts, and customer delivery metrics to executive leadership to support strategic planning and resource allocation.
• Organizational Leadership & Capability Building:
  Build and lead global teams to achieve operational performance targets, including improvements in uptime, responsiveness,…