{"id":1643201,"url":"https://alion.io/job/saildrone-staff-reliability-and-quality-engineer","title":"Staff Reliability and Quality Engineer","company":{"id":58789,"name":"Saildrone","domain":"saildrone.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/saildrone","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":14,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-10T05:45:15Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"staff","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Alameda, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":160000,"max":188000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":188000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"Rest API","optional":false},{"name":"TCP/IP","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-18T16:27:09Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-01","last_verified_at":"2026-10-11T21:55:59Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":23,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":23},"description":"THE COMPANY\nSaildrone is a maritime defense company and the global leader in autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). 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. \nSaildrone’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 and robust unmanned surface technology on the planet, Saildrone is shaping how the Navy of the future operates. Join a fast-moving, mission-driven team at the forefront of maritime security and autonomous innovation.\nTHE POSITION\nSaildrone is seeking a highly organized and passionate individual to join our quality engineering team. Reporting to the Manager, Quality Programs, the quality engineer will lead and participate in a wide variety of initiatives to ensure high product reliability and performance. This individual will play a key role in ensuring the world-class performance of the Saildrone’s autonomous surface vehicle and its production supply base. The ideal candidate will be intrinsically motivated, customer focused, detailed, team-oriented and have a drive for continuous improvement. \nTHE RESPONSIBILITIES\nMonitor field performance across multiple drone platforms and identify emerging quality and reliability trends.\nDefine, maintain, and report reliability KPIs suited to each product and customer use case, including MTBF, MTTF, failure rate, mean time to repair (MTTR), mission success rate, early-life failure rate, repeat failure rate, and reliability growth.\nPerform life-data and reliability analysis, including Weibull analysis, to understand failure behavior and product performance over time.\nLead weekly field triage meetings to align teams on the most critical issues, set clear priorities, assign ownership, and turn insights into measurable actions that improve drone reliability.\nConduct MRB meetings for returned hardware and determine appropriate disposition, including scrap, remanufacture/reuse, use-as-is, or return for further analysis\nLead cross-functional RCA investigations including on returned hardware and drive CAPAs through closure.\nPartner with Technical Operations Support and Fleet Service to develop systems for tracking field failures, trends, customer usage, and overall reliability performance.\nPartner with Remanufacturing to develop and implement quality processes for the inspection, disposition, rework, and release of returned hardware.\nTHE QUALIFICATIONS\nBachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.\n5 to 8+ years of hands-on quality engineering experience in a high-stakes, hardware-centric environment (e.g., Aerospace, Defense, Automotive, or Maritime/Robotics).\nOEM or T1 automotive, aerospace, maritime, or defense contractor experience.\nHands-on experience troubleshooting, testing, and investigating electromechanical hardware.\nExperience defining and monitoring reliability KPIs for products operating in real-world customer environments.\nExperience applying quality and reliability methods to real-world product and field issues.\nStrong working knowledge of quality, root cause, and reliability methodologies, including 8D, FRACAS, FTA, and FMEA.\nWorking knowledge of statistical and reliability analysis tools, including the ReliaSoft suite.\nStrong cross-functional communication skills with the ability to work across engineering, manufacturing, operations, service, and quality teams.\nStrong planning, organizational, analytical, negotiation, interpersonal, decision-making, oral, and written communication skills.\nComfort with the ambiguity, rapid changes, and process evolution that comes in a start-up environment. The ability to create structure where none exists.\nBonus Qualifications\nSix Sigma, ASQ CRE/CQE, or other relevant quality/reliability certification.\nTechnical or hands on knowledge of serial and network protocols (CAN, RS-485, RS-232, SPI, I2C, and TCP/IP).\nComfortable with Linux OS and ability to understand Shells scripts.\nPHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS\nWork requires the ability to be stationary for extended periods of time.\nWork requires the ability to transverse the manufacturing facility multiple times a day.\nWork requires the following motions: bending, twisting, squatting and reaching.\nMust be willing to travel 20% of the time.\nThe base salary range for this position is shown below. Actual compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and qualifications. This range reflects the base salary for candidates in states requiring pay transparency disclosure.\nSalary Range\n$160,000—$188,000 USD\nTo view Saildrone's candidate privacy policy, please visit: https://www.saildrone.com/privacy-policy.\nBENEFITS\nAt Saildrone, we’re building operational capability that matters-and that requires people who can do their best work over the long term. We invest in our team’s well-being, financial security, and professional growth so you can focus on delivering real-world impact with confidence and stability. Our comprehensive benefits package is designed to support you and your family while you contribute to a mission with lasting significance. \n Generous Time Off: Competitive Paid Time Off (PTO) accrual plus a robust annual holiday schedule and paid sick leave ensure you can rest, reset, and sustain performance over time.\nComprehensive Health Coverage: Premium, multi-tier Medical, Dental, and Vision plans with significant company contributions for employees and dependents-providing security and peace of mind.\nShared Ownership in the Mission: Equity grants are a core part of our compensation, allowing you to participate in the long-term value you help create through meaningful, operational work.\n Retirement Savings: Access to a 401(k) retirement plan with flexible pre-tax and Roth payroll contribution options supports long-term financial planning.\nInvestment in Your Growth: We support your continuous learning through an annual professional development reimbursement program, empowering you to sharpen your skills and stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving field.\n Relocation Support: For eligible roles, we offer relocation assistance to help bring the world’s best talent to our mission-critical locations.\nSaildrone is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6904,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Continuous learning","Equity","Professional development","Relocation assistance","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Military","Drones & UAVs","Naval Systems"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-01T22:41:41Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":41,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.547,"p_room":0.75,"age_days":21,"expected_fill_days":29,"reasons":["conf:0","stale_co","velocity","win:late"],"computed_at":"2026-10-10T05:45:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":188000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/saildrone-staff-reliability-and-quality-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/saildrone-staff-reliability-and-quality-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-11T23:19:28Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":14267,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-12T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":58789},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=58789"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fsaildrone-staff-reliability-and-quality-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fsaildrone-staff-reliability-and-quality-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fsaildrone-staff-reliability-and-quality-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/saildrone-staff-reliability-and-quality-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fsaildrone-staff-reliability-and-quality-engineer"}]}