Senior System Engineer

surge marine; Valkenburg; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity/Options

On-site hub at Valkenburg

Job summary

Surge Marine in Valkenburg, Netherlands, is seeking a System Engineer to drive the physical and systemic architecture of our autonomous subsea interceptor platforms. You will own budgets, lead complex integration, and oversee HITL validation from digital models to saltwater reality.

You will report to the Program Lead and help form the core project team, pushing boundaries on payload, speed, and endurance while meeting strict constraints in harsh marine environments.

Qualifications

• Experience leading the complete physical design cycle of complex vehicles.
• Proven assembly, integration and test experience on hardware.
• Strong background in systems engineering and multidisciplinary integration.

Responsibilities

• Architecture Ownership: focal point for vehicle physical design across mechanical, hydrodynamic and systems domains.
• Own System Budgets: manage navigation, power, communications, drag, mass, buoyancy budgets and analyses.
• Complex Systems Integration: lead multidisciplinary teams to integrate high-voltage battery architectures, control loops and payloads.
• Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) Validation: oversee HITL testing and qualification before saltwater deployment.
• Plan Test Campaigns and Operations and Future upgrades: hands-on system engineering responsibilities.

Skills

Vehicle design

Systems engineering

Budget management

HITL testing

Team leadership

Education

Engineering degree (Systems/Naval/Aero)

Job description

System Engineer - UUV

Location: Valkenburg (next to Leiden), Netherlands Type: Full-time

The Role

At Surge Marine, we are engineering systems that operate in some of the most unforgiving environments on the planet. We are looking for a System Engineer to drive the physical and systemic architecture of our autonomous subsea interceptor platforms.

You will report to the Program Lead, and together you will be the core management team of the project. Not just be managing a team of engineers; you will be the responsible to make the vehicle a reality. In the subsea domain, physics is unforgiving. You will dictate the compromises between payload, speed, and endurance, ruthlessly managing the margins that define mission success in the North Sea.

The Mission

• Architecture Ownership: Serve as the focal point for the vehicle's physical design, bridging mechanicalhydrodynamic, and systems engineering disciplines.
• Own System Budgets: Own the vehicle's physical performance margins with absolute authority. Own Navigation, Power, Communications, Drag, Mass, Buoyancy budgets and lead the system level analyses.
• Complex Systems Integration: Lead a multidisciplinary team through a highly complex engineering environment. Ensure the seamless integration of high-voltage battery architectures, operational control loops, and sensor payloads into a tightly constrained physical envelope.
• Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) Validation: Drive the transition from digital models to physical reality, overseeing rigorous HITL testing and qualification logic before the platform ever touches the saltwater.
• Plan Test Campaigns and Operations and Future upgrades: This is a hands on system engineering role.

Who You Are

You are a systems-level thinker who understands that a vehicle is not just a collection of parts, but a tightly coupled physical system where every ounce and every contour matters. You have battle scars from pushing complex hardware from the whiteboard to production.

The Essentials:

• Vehicle Design Experience: A proven track record of leading the complete physical design cycle of complex vehicles (subsea platforms, aerospace vehicles, high-performance maritime crafts, or motorsport chassis).
• Practical Experience You will have assembly, integration and test experience, and operational experience. Ideally, you've made vehicles as a hobby!
• Technical Background: Degree in Systems Engineering, Naval Architecture, Aerospace Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering.
• Budget Mastery: Demonstrated experience strictly managing mass, power, and aerodynamic/hydrodynamic drag budgets across competing engineering sub-teams.
• Complexity Management: Deep experience working in environments with high physical constraints (e.g., watertight integrity, extreme shock/vibration, thermal management in enclosed spaces).
• Nationality: Due to defense contract requirements, Dutch or NATO-country nationality and security clearance eligibility are mandatory. Candidates outside will not be considered.

The Surge Offer

We offer the chance to lead the physical development of a platform that redefines maritime defense capability.

• Competitive Salary: Commensurate with the massive responsibility of owning the vehicle architecture.
• Equity/Options: A direct stake in the hardware you are bringing to life.
• On-site Hub: Based at our Valkenburg facility, where the design office sits directly adjacent to the prototyping floor.
• Real Authority: You own the technical budgets. We trust you to make the calls that shape the vehicle.