Customer Success Engineer

Vatn Systems; Bristol (RI); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A marine technology company located in Rhode Island is seeking a Customer Success Engineer to provide technical support throughout the customer lifecycle. This hands-on role involves on-site support and requires 3-5 years of experience in technical support or field engineering, particularly in hardware-intensive domains. The successful candidate will have strong embedded systems knowledge, excellent communication skills, and a customer-first mindset.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of experience in a technical support, field engineering, or customer success role.
• Strong knowledge of hardware and software diagnostics.
• Experience in demanding field environments.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical support experience for a portfolio of customers.
• Travel to customer sites for support and training.
• Diagnose and resolve hardware and software issues.
• Develop customer-facing documentation and training materials.
• Monitor fleet health and flag potential issues proactively.

Skills

Technical support experience

Embedded systems knowledge

Excellent communication skills

Customer-first mindset

Ability to work autonomously

Tools

Python

CLI tools

Job description

Vatn Systems is building the next generation of autonomous underwater vehicles — smarter, more capable, and designed for the realities of ocean operations. Our AUVs are deployed by researchers, defense contractors, and offshore energy operators around the world. We're a fast-moving team that cares deeply about the reliability of our technology and the success of the people who depend on it.

About The Role

As a Customer Success Engineer, you'll be the technical lifeline for our customers — from onboarding and training through complex field troubleshooting and long‑term mission success. You'll work directly with operators, engineers, and program managers at customer organizations, and serve as the voice of the customer internally to our engineering and product teams. This is a hands‑on, high‑ownership role that requires both deep technical knowledge and a genuine commitment to customer outcomes.

What You'll Do

• Own the end‑to‑end technical support experience for a portfolio of customers, including researchers, government agencies, and commercial operators
• Travel to customer sites, vessel deployments, and field operations to provide on‑site support, commissioning assistance, and training (expect ~25–35% travel)
• Diagnose and resolve hardware and software issues across the AUV stack — navigation, propulsion, sensor integration, communications, and mission planning systems
• Develop and maintain customer‑facing documentation, troubleshooting guides, and training materials
• Reproduce and triage reported bugs, working closely with the engineering team to drive issues to resolution
• Lead customer onboarding programs and ensure new operators are confident and capable with Vatn's systems
• Monitor fleet health and proactively flag potential issues before they impact missions
• Capture field feedback and translate it into clear product improvement requests for engineering and product

What We're Looking For

• 3–5 years of experience in a technical support, field engineering, or customer success engineering role — ideally in marine technology, robotics, or a similarly hardware-intensive domain
• Strong working knowledge of embedded systems, sensor integration, and real-time software — comfortable reading logs, using CLI tools, and understanding system architecture without needing hand‑holding
• Experience supporting hardware in demanding field environments (offshore, shipboard, or similar)
• Excellent communication skills — you can explain complex technical issues clearly to both engineers and non‑technical operators
• Customer‑first mindset: you measure success by whether the customer's mission succeeded, not just whether the ticket was closed
• Ability to work autonomously and manage competing priorities across multiple accounts

Nice to Have

• Experience with AUVs, ROVs, or other marine platforms
• Familiarity with acoustic communications, USBL/DVL navigation, or oceanographic sensors
• Background in Python or scripting for log analysis and diagnostics
• Experience with ROS or similar robotics middleware

Why Vatn

You'll be working on technology that operates in one of the most challenging environments on the planet. Our customers are doing important work — scientific discovery, infrastructure inspection, national security — and your job is to make sure they can rely on our systems to do it. You'll have real ownership, real visibility with leadership, and the satisfaction of solving problems that actually matter in the field.

Vatn Systems is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds.