About UsSaildrone builds autonomous systems that dominate the world’s oceansWith 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. The RoleThe Platform team manages the foundational systems that keep our fleet running and enable our customer deliverables. The team is responsible for customer-facing APIs, authentication and authorization systems, automated drone configuration, fleet monitoring systems and much more! With our wide swath of ownership, this team is critical to the growth of our company, meaning your impact will be immediately felt.As part of this role, you’ll lead complex, multi-team projects, make critical architectural decisions, and ensure the stability and scalability of our platform. Beyond high-level responsibilities, we’re seeking an engineer who’s hands-on and ready to dive in to help us build faster.This role is required to be onsite in Alameda, CA in the Bay Area 3 days per week - this is our hybrid model. This is not a remote position. Required Skills and Experience<ul><li>8+ years of professional software development experience</li><li>BA/BS in related field or equivalent experience</li><li>Proven ability to lead multi-team projects</li><li>Experience in mentoring senior engineers, fostering both technical and professional growth.</li><li>Strong expertise in Python and/or TypeScript.</li><li>Mastery of programming theory and practical application.</li><li>Fluency in code design patterns and their appropriate use cases.</li><li>Experience with Event Driven and Microservice architectures</li><li>Extensive experience with REST APIs, microservices, and cloud infrastructure (AWS, SNS/SQS, Lambda).</li><li>Experience with authentication and authorization mechanisms (e.g. OAuth, OIDC, API Gateways)</li><li>Mastery of relational databases, ideally PostgreSQL.</li><li>Knowledge of Kubernetes and container orchestration. </li></ul>Desired Skills and Experience<ul><li>Proficiency with Linux/Unix environments</li><li>Experience with infrastructure automation tools (ideally Ansible).</li><li>Experience with gRPC and Protobuf</li><li>Familiarity with frameworks like Hapi (JavaScript), Django REST (Python), and FastAPI (Python). </li></ul>Physical Requirements<ul><li>Work is performed on a computer and requires ability to operate a keyboard and other peripheral devices. </li></ul>Location: This position is hybrid in Alameda, CA (Onsite 3 days per week required). Our waterfront office offers beautiful views of San Francisco Bay in always sunny Alameda. All employees are required to provide proof of authorization to work in the U.S. within their first 3 days of work. Please note that the Company does not sponsor employees for work visas or permanent resident cards to work in the U.S. If you need sponsorship for a work visa or green card, you will not be qualified for employment with Saildrone. Benefits:<ul><li>Paid time off, including vacation, bereavement, jury duty, sick time and parental leave</li><li>Comprehensive and competitive medical, dental and vision plans, and HSA with employer matching.</li><li>Company sponsored life insurance</li><li>Stock Options</li><li>Annual stipend for continued learning and development</li><li>Quarterly company BBQs at our Alameda HQ (bring your friends and family!)</li><li>Free Bay Area Public Transportation via AlamedaTMA with the BayPass Clipper Card</li></ul><div><div>A reasonable estimate of the current range is $189,000 - $243,000 annually.</div></div> Catch up on the latest news about us:<a href="https://apnews.com/article/denmark-robot-sailboats-baltic-sea-bfa31c98cf7c93320115c0ad0e6908c5">Danish Military Using Robotic Sailboats for Surveillance in Baltic and North Seas – AP</a> <a href="https://insideunmannedsystems.com/usvs-guarding-the-global-backbone/">USVs Guarding the Global Backbone – Inside Unmanned Systems</a> <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2025/07/08/nato-testing-baltic-sea-drones-to-track-russian-warships-freighters/">NATO Testing Baltic Sea Drones to Track Russian Warships, Freighters – Defense News</a> <a href="https://www.afcea.org/signal-media/us-navy-saildrones">US Navy Saildrones On – SIGNAL Magazine</a> <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/technology/article/the-british-engineer-behind-the-us-navys-high-tech-ocean-drones-vnr5lvhf7">The British Engineer Behind the US Navy’s High-tech Ocean Drones – The Times of London</a> <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/counter-drug-sea-drones-utilized-navy-trump-ramps-up-military-resources-border">Counter-drug Sea Drones Utilized by Navy as Trump Ramps Up Military Resources at the Border – Fox News</a> <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2025/03/saildrone-palantir-partner-to-use-ai-to-streamline-usv-manufacturing-operations/">Saildrone, Palantir Partner to Use AI to Streamline USV Manufacturing, Operations – Breaking Defense</a> <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/underwater-mountain-california-alaska-17852430.php?utm_source=marketing&amp;utm_medium=copy-url-link&amp;utm_campaign=article-share&amp;hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2ZjaHJvbmljbGUuY29tL2NsaW1hdGUvYXJ0aWNsZS91bmRlcndhdGVyLW1vdW50YWluLWNhbGlmb3JuaWEtYWxhc2thLTE3ODUyNDMwLnBocA==&amp;time=MTY4Mzg0MjA4OTIzNQ==&amp;rid=YWRjMTllMzgtYzkzNi00OGQ2LTljMzgtMTQ2OGNlMThiZWY4&amp;sharecount=MQ==">An Underwater Mountain was Newly Discovered off California Coast – San Francisco Chronicle</a> <a href="https://time.com/6978988/saildrone/">TIME 100 Most Influential Companies 2024: Saildrone</a> 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. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. 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. #LI-Hybrid#LI-LP1

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 biomass to establish fishing quotas, or detecting and stopping illegal fishing and 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.

Staff Software Engineer, Platform

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Saildrone

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