Job Description

About Us: Saildrone designs and manufactures wind and solar powered autonomous surface vehicles called Saildrones, which make cost-effective ocean data collection possible at scale. We are working with governments, civic agencies, foundations, universities and private companies around the globe to drive better information about our oceans and seas - be it in mapping out the ocean floor, collecting new CO2 data in hard-to-reach areas, counting bio-mass to establish fishing quotas, or detecting and stopping illegal fishing and drug trafficking. We believe that better inputs in planetary models in turn yield better outputs and that the new insights gained in weather forecasting, carbon cycling, global fishing and climate change will have tremendous impact on humanity. We are based in Alameda, CA and are backed by Social Capital, The Capricorn Investment Group, Lux Capital, Horizons Venture and The Schmidt Family Foundation.

Responsibilities: In this role You will work closely with teams of engineers, product managers, and technicians to plan and execute hardware testing and quality control for electronics used on saildrones and their support equipment. This involves testing current hardware, evaluating new sensors, using lab equipment, performing failure analyses, writing test scripts, and updating documentation. You will diagnose and resolve hardware issues, documenting and integrating your work into future designs. You will also be involved in new hardware development for a myriad of sensors and telecommunications equipment used on saildrones. You will be part of a talented, collaborative team at the forefront of exciting new ventures in the autonomous vehicle space.    .

Required Skills & Abilities:

• Knowledge of electrical laboratory equipment
• Understanding of basic electrical engineering principles and troubleshooting
• Comfortable with Linux command line tools
• Ability to interpret schematics / wiring diagrams / PCB layouts.
• Scripting with python or shell
• A detail-oriented approach

Desired Skills & Abilities:

• Undergraduate degree in EE or CS / ME with EE overlap
• CAN Bus, NMEA 2000, Ethernet, I2C, SPI, RS232/422/485 system knowledge
• Designing PCBs in Altium or other CAD tools
• Antenna and Satellite experience (GPS, Iridium SBD, Certus, Wifi, LTE, VHF)
• Solar power conversion and lithium battery management
• Soldering surface mount and through hole

LOCATION:

This position is located in Alameda, CA. Only candidates with proper permits to work in the United States can be considered.  Our waterfront office offers beautiful views of San Francisco Bay in always sunny Alameda. Even our walls have good karma, our offices mix software development with a hardware production line in the former airplane hangar used to film 'The Matrix'.

BENEFITS:

• Medical, dental and vision plans for you and your dependents
• Active sailing classes: become a certified skipper on boats up to 35ft!  (once COVID safety allows)
• Short and relaxing ferry ride from the Ferry Building for SF residents
• Enhanced paternity / maternity programs
• Competitive benefits including excellent medical, discounted gym, life insurance, 401k plan

This is an exciting opportunity with a fast-growing post series-B startup at the cutting-edge intersection of big data services and autonomous hardware. You will be an integral part of a high-performing multi-disciplinary delivering high impact for humanity and future generations.

You can read the latest about us:

• Saildrone Surveyor Launch (Jan 2021)
• Washington Post: Four autonomous vessels sailed the Arctic to more precisely map its seafloor(Oct 2020)
• USNI: Coast Guard Begins At-Sea Testing of Unmanned Surface Vehicles to Tackle Illegal Fishing, Crime (Oct 2020)
• Forbes: Five Ways Saildrone’s ‘Satellites Of The Seas’ Could Transform Mauritius Oil Spill Response (Sept 2020)
• Maritime Executive: Due to COVID-19, NOAA Uses Drones Instead of Ships for Fishery Survey (June 2020)
• Or watch some of our videos: Bloomberg:  The Robots Roaming the High Seas

Saildrone is an equal opportunity workplace dedicated to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce.

Any unsolicited resumes/candidate profiles submitted through our website or to personal email accounts of employees of Saildrone are considered property of Saildrone and are not subject to payment of agency fees.