About Us

At Saildrone, we sustainably explore, map, and monitor the oceans to understand, protect, and preserve our world. Saildrone provides real-time access to critical data from any ocean on earth, 24/7/365, and uses proprietary software applications to transform that data into actionable insights and intelligence. Saildrone’s 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 vehicle. We work 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, we have been included on Fast Company’s annual list of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2022”, earned the 2022 Ocean Awards’ Innovation Award, won “Best Tech For Good” in the 2022 Timmy Awards, and were recognized by Andreessen-Horowitz’s American Dynamism 50 list of the “Top 50 companies kickstarting American renewal. Saildrone’s hurricane mission 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, St. Petersburg, FL, and Fall River, MA, and operate our missions worldwide. We are 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, they endure immense stresses. To ensure the components we subject to these conditions work as intended, we must execute across all aspects of the company with a high degree of quality. We must scrutinize our processes, procedures, tooling, workflows, and overall manufacturing environment to ensure it facilitates repeatable, intended outcomes. When defects are discovered, we must aggressively determine and mitigate the source of the defect. We must document and certify our quality management system (QMS) in accordance with relevant industry standards and governance. As the Manager, Quality Programs your responsibility will be to develop and maintain Saildrone’s QMS, founded on culture of continuous improvement.

You will collaborate with development, production, service, and operations teams as you help ensure we design and build quality into all of our workflows. You will apply data, technical expertise, and sound judgment to ensure we are doing the right things to deliver value to our customers. You will create a disciplined quality management system that will enable Saildrone to operate with rigor.

What You'll Do

• Lead quality engineering from the beginning of post-design workflows through the delivery of value to our customers. Establish, certify, and maintain Saildrone’s quality management system in accordance with relevant standards and specifications.
• Develop a robust system for tracking quality defects, determining their root cause, scoping mitigation, implementing the changes, and measuring the resulting improvement.
• Develop organizational quality program from component production, vehicle assembly, through mission deployment and recovery.
• Work with Customer Program Managers to gather lessons-learned from customer missions and drive improvements back into operational workflows.
• Identify, implement, and monitor critical quality checks/tests during manufacturing.
• Build consensus with cross-functional teams on the method and importance of implementing quality best-practices. Coach colleagues on implementing and documenting these best-practices. Lead continuous improvement exercises and look for opportunities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the technician teams who add value to our customers.
• Hire, lead, coach, and mentor a small team of high-performing quality engineers to augment your capacity.

What We're Looking For

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

• Deep understanding of the statistics and industry standards for quality engineering to the degree that you could teach the concepts to peers.
• Must be able to transition seamlessly between collaborative and independent/hands-on work and know when each is appropriate to drive projects to conclusion in the most effective and efficient manner.
• Disciplined and methodical in your approach, yet creative and thoughtful when you encounter ambiguity or a lack of industry standards.
• Willing to work hard at both tactical and strategic levels. Some days you’ll be leading working groups focused on QMS structural development. Other days you’ll be working with the technician teams to find the source of a defect down to the detail of a single fastener. Both types of work must intrigue and motivate you.
• Question processes and their requirements. Use data, technical competence, and sound judgement to tactfully push back on peers and company leaders. Ask the right questions at the right time and make decisions that position customer outcomes as the top priority.
• Ability to consistently follow-through and get results. This role will require a high degree of conscientiousness and diligence due to its wide-ranging responsibilities.

Required skills and experience

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

• Over 5 years of professional experience in quality engineering. Your experience must include leading small teams as well as working cross-functionally to achieve quality outcomes.
• Direct experience developing, implementing, gathering implementation evidence, certifying, and maintaining a quality management system. Strong preference for experience doing so using ISO9001 or AS9100D specifications.
• Background in quality engineering, defect tracking, and process development for manufacturing and servicing complex hardware products that are subject to harsh environmental conditions. Able to establish and refine a system for statistical process control (e.g. first pass yield, defect rate, etc.)
• Organized, immersed in details. Able to develop relationships with and persuade peers and external vendors. Possess an intuitive sense of priority and act on it to ensure focus and energy is maintained on the most important things.
• Manipulation of data and gleaning critical insights to drive design decisions (SQL, python, Excel)
• Willing and able to work onsite at our Alameda HQ as well as work extended hours or travel, if necessary.

Desired skills and experience

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

• Experience working in industries that were highly vertically integrated and required a high-degree of detail-oriented configuration (aerospace, automotive, space, defense technology, medical)
• Knowledge of and experience leveraging advanced quality methodologies for new product introduction, such as APQP/PPAP
• Demonstrated commitment to the quality engineering profession by holding relevant certifications (e.g. Six Sigma, lead auditor, etc.)
• Philosophical alignment with and experience implementing principles of lean manufacturing as a tool to enable continuous improvement

Location: This position is in Alameda, CA. 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.
• Short and relaxing ferry ride from the Ferry Building for SF residents
• Enhanced Parental Leave Programs
• Competitive benefits including excellent medical, life insurance, 401k plan

Catch up on the latest news about us:

Interagency Public-Private Partnership Sends Uncrewed Saildrone to Explore Remote Alaskan Waters - NOAA OER (August 11, 2022)

An Unprecedented View Inside a Hurricane – EOS (May 6, 2022)

Meet the sailing robots trying to solve climate change – The Hill (Mar. 18, 2022)

They Sailed Into a Hurricane, Now these Unmanned Saildrones are Seeking Data on Our Carbon Uptake – CNN (Dec. 9, 2021)

Saildrone Catches a $100M C Breeze to Build More Robo-boats – TechCrunch (Oct. 18, 2021)

With A Sight, Sound And Radar Picture, Saildrone Could Build An AI Database Of Everything In The Ocean – Forbes (Aug. 16, 2021)

Changing Arctic Environment Could Also Change Technologies Needed to Protect It, Experts Say – SeaPower Magazine (Aug. 2, 2021)

Autonomous Research Vehicle Completes Ocean Crossing from San Francisco to Hawaii – Hydro International (July 13, 2021)

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.

In accordance with Saildrone’s mandatory employee COVID-19 vaccination policy, please be advised that all employees are required to be vaccinated and boosted to safeguard the health of our employees and their families, our customers and visitors and the community at large.

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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