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Foundry Platform Lead
Saildrone
Alameda, CA, USA
USD 189k-243k / year + Equity
Posted on Nov 8, 2025
About Us
With more than 2 million nautical miles sailed and 50,000 days at sea, Saildrone has earned the trust of governments worldwide. Our unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) deliver continuous, real-time intelligence in the toughest oceans on Earth—giving our partners faster awareness, stronger security, and a decisive edge at sea.
Our USVs are long-range, extreme-endurance platforms powered by advanced sensors and proprietary AI - they have been designed to operate where no crewed vessel can. They collect critical insights above and below the surface to support border security, law enforcement, naval operations, and undersea infrastructure protection.
Headquartered in Alameda, CA, with offices in Washington, DC, and global deployment hubs, Saildrone operates missions worldwide. Join a fast-moving, mission-driven team at the intersection of AI, autonomy, and defense technology—where data turns into intelligence, and intelligence drives action.
The Role
Saildrone designs, builds, and deploys uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) that operate for months at sea in contested and extreme maritime environments. The Foundry Platform Lead will own and extend Saildrone’s use of the Palantir Foundry platform, supporting the full digital thread through design, manufacturing, test, fleet deployment, and operational feedback.
Reporting to the CFO (Information Systems), this role will lead the roadmap, architecture, development, and scaling of Foundry workflows, data models, pipelines, ontologies, dashboards, and automations that support hardware production and operational readiness. The ideal candidate blends software architecture, data modeling, and applied manufacturing workflow understanding, and is comfortable operating directly across engineering, production, supply chain, finance, and mission execution.
This role will take over and build upon the initial Foundry implementation completed with Palantir, evolving it into a Saildrone-owned, maintainable, and scalable internal platform.
Responsibilities
Foundry System Ownership and Architecture
● Own the architecture, ontology, integration patterns, and data lifecycle for Saildrone’s Palantir Foundry environment
● Extend and productionize workflows originally developed in partnership with Palantir.
● Establish governance for dataset management, version control, schema evolution, code style/standards, code review, and release processes.
Manufacturing Digital Thread Integration
● Integrate engineering (CAD/PLM/BOM), manufacturing (ERP/MRP, MES), test, and field telemetry data into a unified digital thread.
● Provide real-time visibility into build state, non-conformances, test results, supply constraints, and production KPIs.
● Deliver tools and dashboards that improve throughput, yield, cost, and quality across manufacturing and assembly.
Fleet Operations and Reliability Feedback Loop
● Provide tools that Ingest, structure, and analyze reliability data and operational telemetry from deployed vehicles.
● Build and maintain tooling that manages vehicle configuration, operational scheduling, and vehicle servicing.
● Enable engineering and mission teams with operational readiness and performance data products.
Tooling and Developer Experience
● Establish reusable code and workflow patterns inside Foundry.
● Train engineering and production teams to self-serve and contribute responsibly.
● Transition Foundry from Palantir-led to Saildrone-owned development.
Required Skills and Experience
● 5+ years of experience in software or data platform development.
● 2+ years of hands-on experience building in Palantir Foundry.
● Strong proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript, plus SQL and pipeline development.
● Experience with Git (or other version control systems) and CI/CD practices.
● Understanding of manufacturing, hardware product development, or physical systems workflows (CAD, PLM, BOM, test systems, MES, ERP).
● Ability to turn ambiguous workflows into structured data models and usable tools.
● Strong documentation and communication skills.
Desired Skills and Experience
● Experience with React.
● Previous engineering management experience strongly preferred.
● Experience in aerospace, defense, robotics, automotive, or maritime systems.
● Experience supporting prototype to production scaling transitions.
● Familiarity with reliability engineering, fleet telemetry analytics, or build/test data.
Location: This position is in Alameda, CA. Our waterfront office offers beautiful views of San Francisco Bay in always-sunny Alameda.
All employees are required to provide proof of authorization to work in the U.S. within their first 3 days of work. Please note that the Company does not sponsor employees for work visas or permanent resident cards to work in the U.S. If you need sponsorship for a work visa or green card, you will not be qualified for employment with Saildrone.
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
The salary range for the role is $189,000-$243,000 annually.
Individual compensation packages are based on geographic location, scope of the role, and relevant experience, among other factors.
Saildrone 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.
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