Staff Software Engineer, Perception

Saildrone • Alameda, CA

1d • $215,000 - $270,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Saildrone is seeking a Staff Software Engineer, Perception to join our Perception team. Reporting to the Engineering Manager, Perception, you will play a critical role in enabling real-time detection, tracking, and classification of vessels across Saildrone’s autonomous fleet. You will architect and deliver perception systems that operate reliably in complex maritime environments, directly advancing Saildrone’s mission to provide persistent maritime intelligence. We are looking for a technical expert who creates clarity from ambiguity, drives high-performance systems from concept to deployment, and thrives in solving hard autonomy problems in real-world conditions.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience building production perception or autonomy systems, including significant experience developing high-performance C++ software for real-time embedded or edge platforms
• Deep experience building and deploying Radar and Camera-based perception systems, including GPU-accelerated pipelines (CUDA) and robotics middleware (ROS), in real-time or edge-constrained environments.
• Proven ability to solve complex tracking and classification problems in high-noise maritime environments using advanced filtering techniques (Kalman/Particle).
• Strong track record of making and communicating system-level tradeoffs across sensing performance, compute constraints, power budgets, and deployment realities in cross-functional environments.
• Ability to work effectively in a high-stakes R&D environment, translating ambiguous mission needs (e.g., counter-smuggling) into structured technical requirements.
• Strong knowledge of signal processing fundamentals and the deployment of ML models to resource-constrained edge devices (NVIDIA Jetson/AGX).

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Python for prototyping, data analysis, and large-scale performance tracking preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and optimize perception algorithms (detect, track, classify) to achieve high-fidelity situational awareness in contested maritime environments.
• Be accountable for high-performance C++ systems on NVIDIA Jetson/AGX platforms, ensuring ownership of the real-time "digital overwatch" stack.
• Work closely with Autonomy and ML teams to architect pipelines that fuse Radar, Camera, and AIS data, utilizing Kalman or Particle filtering to mitigate vehicle motion and wave clutter.
• Lead technical evaluation and integration of new sensing technologies, partnering with Hardware and Systems teams to harden hardware-software interfaces for months-long deployments.
• Monitor for end-to-end system performance bottlenecks, taking action to optimize GPU-accelerated signal processing and machine learning models for onboard execution.
• Adhere to rigorous testing standards by developing large-scale regression frameworks and using Python to analyze mission telemetry and sensor performance.
• Provide timely updates and collaborate with UI/Platform engineers to ensure perception outputs are clearly visualized for remote pilots and navigational safety systems.
• Perform all responsibilities with a focus on hardening algorithms against environmental degradation, identifying technical risks, and driving mitigation strategies for autonomous survival.

Benefits

• Competitive Paid Time Off (PTO) accrual plus a robust annual holiday schedule and paid sick leave
• Premium, multi-tier Medical, Dental, and Vision plans with significant company contributions for employees and dependents
• Equity grants
• Access to a 401(k) retirement plan with flexible pre-tax and Roth payroll contribution options
• Annual professional development reimbursement program
• Relocation assistance for eligible roles

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior