Senior Perception & Robotics Engineering Manager

Saildrone; Alameda (CA); Hybrid; USD 260,000 - 305,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO & holidays

Health coverage

Equity

401(k)

Professional development

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Saildrone is seeking a Senior Engineering Manager, Perception to lead the Robotics Software org. You will architect and productionize our next-gen perception software for our drone fleet, balancing technical ownership with people leadership.

You will guide cross-functional teams, own delivery and edge performance on embedded platforms, and shape product roadmaps with Autonomy, ML, Systems, and Hardware partners.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive software experience in robotics, drones, or autonomous driving with 2+ years in engineering management or technical leadership.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Hands-on proficiency in modern C++ (14/17/20) and production-grade software for Linux embedded environments.
• Deep understanding of perception fundamentals including multi-object tracking, 3D computer vision, and edge deployment of deep learning.
• Proven experience with complex maritime sensor stacks and data fusion (cameras, radar, LiDAR, AIS).
• Experience building data pipelines, auto-labeling or regression workflows for large-scale datasets.
• Leadership style that unblocks developers and fosters collaboration, mission-driven culture.

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale an elite engineering team with hands-on involvement in architecture, code reviews, and key implementations.
• Ensure delivery, reliability, and edge performance of real-time perception software on uncrewed platforms during long ocean deployments.
• Collaborate with Autonomy, ML, Systems, and Hardware teams to align roadmaps and cross-functional dependencies.
• Drive development using C++, robotics perception/ML software, and agile practices for production-grade standards.
• Identify bottlenecks and risks, implementing mitigations for high-performance computing on embedded platforms.
• Establish robust validation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and simulation frameworks for deterministic safety and performance.

Skills

Robotics software leadership

C++ (14/17/20)

Linux embedded systems

Perception fundamentals

Sensor fusion

Edge ML

Team mentorship

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS/Robotics/EE

Job description

Saildrone is seeking a Senior Engineering Manager, Perception to lead the Robotics Software org. You will architect and productionize our next-gen perception software for our drone fleet, balancing technical ownership with people leadership.

You will guide cross-functional teams, own delivery and edge performance on embedded platforms, and shape product roadmaps with Autonomy, ML, Systems, and Hardware partners.