Senior Engineering Manager, Perception

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, Perception to join our Robotics Software Org. Reporting directly to the Director, Robotics Software, you will play a critical role in architecting, implementing, and productionizing our next-gen perception software to our drone fleet. We are looking for a technical leader who creates clarity from ambiguity and has a proven track record of independently driving execution in a fast-paced environment. In this role, you will balance strategic people management with deep technical ownership, staying hands-on with architecture and code while steering a world-class team of autonomy engineers. THE TEAM The Perception Engineering Team is responsible for designing and deploying advanced sensing and perception capabilities that power Saildrone's autonomous operations. We are focused on delivering robust and scalable solutions for global maritime domain awareness to safeguard our uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and provide mission-critical data in a national security and defense environment. Our team processes petabytes of unique, multi-modal ocean data collected across millions of nautical miles, solving the complex visual challenges of tracking targets amidst massive wave clutter, severe vehicle motion, and changing atmospheric conditions. THE RESPONSIBILITIES Lead and scale an elite engineering team, providing high-impact technical mentorship and career development while remaining directly hands-on with core architecture, code reviews, and critical implementations. Be accountable for the delivery, reliability, and edge performance of real-time perception software running on uncrewed platforms during months-long ocean deployments. Partner with the Autonomy, Machine Learning, Systems, and Hardware teams to align on product roadmaps, manage cross-functional dependencies, and ensure seamless sensor-to-actuation integration. Drive day-to-day execution using C++, our state-of-the-art robotics perception and ML software, and agile methodologies to maintain high-velocity development cycles and rigorous production-grade standards. Proactively identify system bottlenecks, algorithmic risks, and team blockers, implementing strategic mitigations to optimize high-performance compute on embedded platforms (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson). Establish robust validation, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, and simulation frameworks leveraging large-scale maritime datasets to guarantee deterministic safety and performance. THE QUALIFICATIONS Experience: 8+ years of progressive software experience in robotics, drones, or autonomous driving, with at least 2+ years of direct engineering management or technical leadership experience. Education: Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Hands-on Expertise: Strong technical depth in modern C++ (14/17/20) and production-grade software development for Linux embedded environments, with the ability to dive into the codebase, review code, and make sound technical judgments Domain Knowledge: Deep understanding of perception fu…