Technical Operations Engineer

Saildrone•Alameda, CA

35d•Onsite

About The Position

Saildrone's autonomous surface vehicles operate for unprecedented periods of time in the most unforgiving environments on the planet. From the inside of hurricanes to the frigid waters of the Arctic, the stresses they endure are immense. The technical execution of preparing the vehicles for their mission and rigorous root cause analysis must be performed with a high degree of skill and consistency. As a Technical Operations Engineer, you will be responsible for ensuring the technical outcome of the vehicles throughout their lifecycle by solving problems to support operations and production teams and improving the quality and reliability of the vehicles by facilitating faster product iteration and translating drone performance in the field into targeted design improvements. You will fill a central role within the company and collaborate with a variety of teams in engineering, operations, and production. You will apply technical expertise to ensure operational excellence across our product line. You will need to develop and execute operational plans to sustain and improve Saildrone's systems at scale. You will translate messy, real-world data into actionable product and process improvements.

Requirements

Love to solve novel and exciting problems that arise in hardware, software, and networking
Strong desire to learn new and complex systems
Gratified by helping your peers succeed
An instinct for improving processes and workflows to reduce variation within a system
Not satisfied by superficial explanations of a problem.
Able to find the specific root cause so it can be mitigated to prevent future instances
Comfortable digging through metrics, logs, and whatever else is available to triage and fix an incident
Break down information silos by collaborating with others to solve problems, share knowledge, and provide feedback
Can self-assess the needs of a system or team, and can be persuasive about the priority of the most important work
Good at ordering by likelihood of possible causes of an issue with imperfect or incomplete datasets
At least two years of professional experience performing post-manufacture servicing of complex embedded systems or consumer products
Willing and able to travel domestically and internationally as well as work extended hours when necessary
Ability to independently apply knowledge of electrical diagrams/schematics, and mechanical systems to identify a problem with a product, determine the cause, and execute an appropriate repair
Familiar with electrical, mechanical, and materials engineering concepts
Able to context switch quickly to respond to new and urgent issues
Comfortable obtaining data and diagnosing issues from software and networking platforms using command-line tools on a Linux OS.
Able to write and understand basic shell scripts to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of performing various diagnostic-and test-related tasks.
Maintain appropriate records and inventories. Possess organizational habits and a willingness to define, follow, and improve process and work standards.
Strong people skills and an ability to work with a wide variety of teams as a leader, and a follower
Strong safety consciousness and the ability to use good judgment to assess and execute safe operations at home and in new and unfamiliar environments

Nice To Haves

Experience in a field engineer, test engineer, operations engineering or integration/prototype engineering role
Experience working within service-level objectives (SLI, SLO, SLA, Error Budget, Burn Rate)
Experience applying concepts of continuous improvement and root cause analysis to scale operations within a start-up environment
Experience with network and message protocols (TCP/IP, HTTP, CAN, RS 485, RS 232, SPI, I2C, routing, ACLs)
Experience using APIs to interact with processes and components
Experience using industry-standard CAD tools (NX, Solidworks, Fusion 360, EAGLE, KiCad, Altium)
Experience leading and working in teams, including third-party contractors, to execute operational plans and deliver on contractual obligations in a field environment, on time and within budget.
Able to write clear documentation, process standards, procedures, and work instructions to aid supported teams.
Familiar with industry-standard project management tools (Jira, Confluence, Asana, Monday, etc.)
Familiar with operations in a marine environment

Responsibilities

Develop a top-to-bottom understanding of complex sensors and embedded systems as they relate to an entire, functioning system
Provide internal customer service to supported production and operations teams to quickly resolve any technical issues they experience
Build trust with cross-functional teams and lead root cause analysis to identify areas for improvement
Propose and implement solutions for issues, processes, and system architecture
Help evaluate the effectiveness of those solutions and other engineering developments by supporting system integration testing
Provide on-call support to troubleshoot, diagnose and fix software, hardware, and networking issues on autonomous surface vehicles
Help support new sensor and system integration to streamline the handoff of new products and features from engineering to operations by embedding with design teams, producing documentation, and training your peers
Participate in on-call rotations for high-impact, high-priority issue resolution
Travel to locations all over the world to help ready and deploy drones for their missions

Benefits

Paid time off, including vacation, bereavement, jury duty, sick time and parental leave
Comprehensive and competitive medical, dental and vision plans, and HSA with employer matching.
Company sponsored life insurance
Stock Options
Annual stipend for continued learning and development
Quarterly company BBQs at our Alameda HQ (bring your friends and family!)
Free Bay Area Public Transportation via AlamedaTMA with the BayPass Clipper Card

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