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 builds autonomous maritime systems that must perceive and understand the world without continuous human supervision. As Principal Engineer, Perception, you will define the technical direction and architecture of the perception systems that enable our vehicles to operate reliably in complex, changing environments.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You will own the hardest perception problems, make architectural decisions, and connect sensing, estimation, machine learning, and production software into a coherent system deployed on real vehicles.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Define the architecture and technical direction for Saildrone's perception systems.
• Lead the hardest problems in sensor fusion, probabilistic estimation, localization, tracking, mapping, and uncertainty estimation.
• Determine how heterogeneous sensors and perception algorithms combine to produce reliable information for downstream autonomy.
• Translate research and algorithms into robust production capabilities within real-world constraints on sensors, compute, latency, and environmental conditions.
• Provide technical direction to senior and staff engineers through architecture, technical review, and problem solving.

THE QUALIFICATIONS

• Exceptional depth in perception and robotics, with a track record of deploying perception systems on autonomous vehicles, robots, aerospace, defense, or similarly complex physical systems.
• Deep expertise in sensor fusion, probabilistic estimation, and uncertainty modeling.
• Strong mathematical and algorithmic foundations, with depth in multiple areas such as computer vision, localization, state estimation, tracking, mapping, or machine learning.