Lead Subsea Acoustics Engineer — Architect & Scale Sonar Systems

Ulysses; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Ulysses is seeking a Senior Acoustics Engineer to lead the development of next‑generation underwater sensing systems. You will own core acoustic payloads and algorithms and drive them from concept through production for global deployment.

This senior, hands-on role spans physics, signal processing, electronics, embedded software, and mechanical integration. You will lead the acoustics team, set technical direction, and collaborate with robotics and manufacturing to deliver scalable, reliable

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional experience in underwater acoustics, sonar systems, or closely related signal processing disciplines.
• Track record of shipping acoustic products—or owning major subsystems of them—ideally in DVL, MBES, Side Scan, USBL, or closely related sonar systems.
• Deep expertise in DSP and estimation: time/frequency domain analysis, filtering, detection, beamforming, Doppler processing, and probabilistic performance metrics.
• Strong implementation skills in Python for R&D prototyping and C/C++ (or equivalent) for embedded/real-time deployment.
• Demonstrated ability to work across disciplines—bridging physics, electronics, firmware, and mechanical integration.
• Hands-on approach to testing: designing experiments, building rigs, running field trials, and debugging from raw waveforms to full system behavior.
• Experience leading technical direction on complex development programs and making architecture-level tradeoff decisions.
• Proven ability to develop working, deployed systems—not just theoretical models or paper studies.

Responsibilities

• Lead acoustic product development end-to-end: architect systems, prototype quickly, validate performance, and drive designs into production
• Lead a team to design, build, and test performative sonar systems across one or more of: DVL (bottom/water-track velocity, aiding INS), MBES (bathymetry, obstacle/terrain mapping), Side Scan Sonar (imaging/classification support), USBL (relative positioning/tracking, aiding navigation)
• Develop and own signal processing and estimation pipelines: waveform design, matched filtering, Doppler estimation, beamforming, multipath/false return rejection, uncertainty characterization, and sensor fusion interfaces
• Lead the team through hardware/software stack design and development while owning parts yourself: transducer selection/design tradeoffs, analog front-end considerations, timing/synchronization, embedded compute constraints, interfaces (Ethernet, serial, CAN, PPS), firmware/drivers, and logging/observability
• Drive scale-to-production: cost-down iterations, DFM/DFT, supplier selection, manufacturing documentation, calibration procedures, automated test fixtures, yield and reliability improvements
• Lead real-world test campaigns: tank/bench characterization, environmental testing, field deployments, sea trials, and structured performance reporting
• Mentor junior engineers and set technical standards for the acoustics discipline within the team

Skills

Underwater acoustics

DSP & estimation

Python

C/C++

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Testing and field trials

Job description

Ulysses is seeking a Senior Acoustics Engineer to lead the development of next‑generation underwater sensing systems. You will own core acoustic payloads and algorithms and drive them from concept through production for global deployment.

This senior, hands-on role spans physics, signal processing, electronics, embedded software, and mechanical integration. You will lead the acoustics team, set technical direction, and collaborate with robotics and manufacturing to deliver scalable, reliable