Vehicle Assembly & Service Technician

About Us

At Saildrone, we sustainably explore, map, and monitor the oceans to understand, protect, and preserve our world. We provide real-time access to critical data from any ocean on earth, 24/7/365, and use proprietary software applications to transform that data into actionable insights and intelligence. Our fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), powered by renewable wind and solar power, have a minimal carbon footprint and operate without the need for a crewed support vessel. Saildrone works with governments, civil agencies, foundations, universities, and private companies around the globe to drive better information about our oceans and seas—from sailing into the eye of a category 4 hurricane to obtain new data about how storms intensify, collecting new CO2 data in hard-to-reach areas, and counting fish biomass to inform sustainable fishery management, to mapping the ocean floor and reducing illegal fishing and drug trafficking. As a result of our work, Saildrone has been included on Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, earned an Ocean Awards’ Innovation Award, won Best Tech For Good from the Timmy Awards, and was recognized by Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism 50 list of the Top 50 Companies Kickstarting American Renewal. Our first-annual Atlantic hurricane mission with NOAA was included as one of The New York Times’ 21 Things That Happened for the First Time in 2021 and Popular Science's 100 Greatest Innovations of 2021.

We are based in Alameda, CA, with offices in Washington DC and St. Petersburg, FL, and operate our missions worldwide. Saildrone is backed by top-tier investors in the frontier tech and sustainability sectors, including Social Capital, Capricorn, Lux Capital, BOND Capital, and Emerson Collective.

This is an exciting opportunity with a fast-growing team 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.

The Role

Saildrone's autonomous surface vehicles operate for unprecedented periods of time in the most unforgiving environments on the planet. From inside of hurricanes to the frigid waters of the Arctic, the stresses they endure are immense. The technical execution of preparing the vehicles for their mission and servicing their constituent parts must be performed with a high degree of skill and consistency. As a Vehicle Assembly & Service Technician, you will be responsible for constructing and servicing Saildrone vehicles as well as training and leading others to do the same.

You will collaborate with a variety of teams in engineering, operations, and production. You will interact with clients and lead teams, both in the shop and around the world, to execute assembly and service operations. You will help turn in-field realities into product improvements, serving as an important link between our end users and the teams at Saildrone who design our products.

What You'll Do

• Train contractors, clients, and other third-parties on how to assemble and service Saildrone vehicles.
• Provide input on how to improve in-field assembly and service procedures as well as vehicle designs.
• Travel domestically and internationally to deploy and repair Saildrone vehicles.
• Lead the assembly and service workflows for Saildrone’s vehicle fleet, ensuring that our drones are fully mission capable and able to maintain exceptionally high uptime.

What We're Looking For

A top performer in this role will be highly motivated by and skilled in the following areas:

• Act with self-awareness and professionalism when interacting with Saildrone clients and colleagues.
• A skilled technician that understands how to apply fundamentally sound mechanical and electrical skills in a field environment.
• Ability to assess current processes and determine how they could improve to achieve increased safety, consistency, and efficiency.
• Possess high standards for doing things the right way. Able to lead and hold others accountable for achieving that same standard.
• Passion for teaching and coaching others on how to perform technical procedures.
• Desire to take ownership of and responsibility for the outcome of operational execution.

Required Skills and Experience

Skills that are necessary to executing the core functions of this role are listed below.

• 5 or more years of experience executing operations involving the application of fundamentally sound electrical and mechanical skills while performing a technical service role in a field, shipyard, or heavy industrial environment, following service instructions/diagrams, using tools ranging from basic hand tools to heavy equipment and rigging.
• Desire and ability to provide industry-defining customer service for both external customers and Saildrone colleagues. Ability to simplify technical concepts and product knowledge to teach and coach end-users on vehicle assembly and service.
• Maintain appropriate records and inventories. Possess organizational habits and a willingness to define, follow, and improve safety, process, and work standards.
• Ability to lead and work in teams, to include third-party contractors, to execute operational plans and deliver on contractual obligations.

Preferred skills and experience

Here's a non-exhaustive list of specific skills where prior knowledge or experience would lend itself to high performance:

• Personal or professional experience on or near water; familiar with rigging, mooring, and basic boat handling principles.
• Possess the ability to systematically isolate, diagnose, and repair issues on electro-mechanical systems in a marine environment.
• Prior experience in a fast-paced, start-up environment or an advanced serviceability/manufacturability of design role. Able to develop/create technical repair content to support global standardization and service documentation for safety, quality, and repeatability.
• Prior experience planning, leading, and performing technically complex operations in the field for a global OEM servicing the automotive, aerospace, shipyard, offshore oil and gas, heavy civil/mining, renewable energy, or telecommunications industries. .

Physical Requirements

• Willingness to support 75% travel, domestically and internationally. U.S. Person status and eligibility for U.S. Department of Defense security clearance is required for this role. Able to work on your feet and at heights. Able to lift and carry 50lbs.

Location: This position is in St. Petersburg, FL. 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:

• Competitive benefits including excellent medical, life insurance, 401k plan
• Enhanced Parental Leave Programs
• Short and relaxing ferry ride from the Ferry Building for SF residents
• Medical, dental and vision plans for you and your dependents.

Catch up on the latest news about us:

The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea – The New York Times

Saildrone Takes the Wraps Off its Voyager Autonomous Research Vehicle – TechCrunch

An Underwater Mountain was Newly Discovered off California Coast – San Francisco Chronicle

The Quest for CO2: You Can’t Capture What You Can’t Find – Inside Unmanned Systems

Hacking the Anthropocene with Survivalist Robots [VIDEO] – Freethink

Here’s What Hurricane Fiona’s Surf Looked Like, from Atop a 50-foot Wave – The Washington Post

An Unprecedented View Inside a Hurricane – EOS

Meet the sailing robots trying to solve climate change – The Hill

They Sailed Into a Hurricane, Now These Unmanned Saildrones are Seeking Data on Our Carbon Uptake – CNN

Saildrone Featured Videos Playlist

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Individual compensation packages are based on geographic location, scope of the role, relevant experience, and the ability to deal with complexity and problem solve within our organization, among other factors

Individuals who require employer sponsorship to remain employed in the United States now or in the future will not be considered for hire for certain positions.

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.

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This is a remote position.