Software Engineer, Simulation & Evaluation

Saildrone is a maritime defense company and the global leader in autonomous unmanned surface vehicles. With more ocean miles and real-world operational experience than any USV manufacturer or operator, Saildrone maintains active, combat-deployed systems supporting national security and force projection around the world, 24/7/365.

Saildrone’s manufacturing and R&D headquarters are located in Alameda, CA, with business development and sales operations in Washington, DC, and deployment hubs in Europe and the Middle East. By combining proven autonomous operations, edge computing, advanced sensing, renewable power, and the most advanced unmanned surface technology on the planet, Saildrone is shaping how the Navy of the future operates.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Autonomous systems cannot be developed and validated through field testing alone. As a Software Engineer, Simulation & Evaluation, you will build the infrastructure that lets Saildrone engineers replay real-world data, simulate autonomous behavior, measure performance, and turn failures into repeatable tests.

You will work across simulation, replay, resimulation, scenario generation, evaluation, and automated regression.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Build production-quality simulation, replay, resimulation, and evaluation infrastructure for autonomous systems


• Talk with simulation users to understand what is difficult to express in scenario definitions, what is hard to maintain, and propose and implement solutions


• Connect recorded vehicle data, simulated environments, and production autonomy software into repeatable test workflows


• Develop open-loop and closed-loop testing for autonomous behavior


• Build quantitative metrics, evaluation pipelines, and regression tests


• Turn real-world failures and edge cases into repeatable scenarios and automated tests


• Analyze logs, telemetry, simulation results, and test failures to identify root causes


• Integrate simulation and evaluation into the software development lifecycle

YOU SHOULD HAVE

• Strong C++ software engineering skills and experience building production systems


• Experience with simulation, emulation, replay, resimulation, hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop, or comparable robotics testing infrastructure


• Strong systems fundamentals including concurrency, performance, reliability, and Linux


• Experience building quantitative evaluation or validation systems


• Understanding of simulation fidelity and the limitations of simulated or replayed behavior


• Experience building infrastructure used by other engineers


• Strong communication skills to partner with stakeholders across teams

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience with autonomous vehicles, robotics, aerospace, or other physical autonomous systems


• Python for analysis, automation, or test tooling


• Large-scale simulation or high-throughput data processing


• CI/CD and automated regression testing


• Vehicle or field-test data

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Saildrone offers competitive paid time off, a robust holiday schedule, and paid sick leave. Benefits include premium medical, dental, and vision coverage with significant company contributions for employees and dependents, equity grants, a 401(k) retirement plan, annual professional development reimbursement, and relocation assistance for eligible roles.