Job Description
About Us
At Saildrone, we sustainably explore, map, and monitor the oceans to understand, protect, and preserve our world. We provide real-time access to critical data from any ocean on earth, 24/7/365, and use proprietary software applications to transform that data into actionable insights and intelligence. Our fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), powered by renewable wind and solar power, have a minimal carbon footprint and operate without the need for a crewed support vessel. Saildrone works with governments, civil agencies, foundations, universities, and private companies around the globe to drive better information about our oceans and seas-from sailing into the eye of a category 4 hurricane to obtain new data about how storms intensify, collecting new CO2 data in hard-to-reach areas, and counting fish biomass to inform sustainable fishery management, to mapping the ocean floor and reducing illegal fishing and drug trafficking. As a result of our work, Saildrone has been included on Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, earned an Ocean Awards’ Innovation Award, won Best Tech For Good from the Timmy Awards, and was recognized by Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism 50 list of the Top 50 Companies Kickstarting American Renewal. Our first-annual Atlantic hurricane mission with NOAA was included as one of The New York Times’ 21 Things That Happened for the First Time in 2021 and Popular Science’s 100 Greatest Innovations of 2021.
We are based in Alameda, CA, with offices in Washington DC and St. Petersburg, FL, and operate our missions worldwide. Saildrone is backed by top-tier investors in the frontier tech and sustainability sectors, including Social Capital, Capricorn, Lux Capital, BOND Capital, and Emerson Collective.
This is an exciting opportunity with a fast-growing team at the cutting-edge intersection of big data services and autonomous hardware. You will be an integral part of a high-performing multi-disciplinary delivering high impact for humanity and future generations.
The Role
We are seeking a hands-on individual to direct our product management team. You’ll work with other teams across our matrixed organization to facilitate both short-term tactical work and longer-term strategic initiatives.
In this role you may be working on tactical product management (e.g. writing user stories, reviewing PRDs), communicating updates to leadership, and gathering requirements from other key stakeholders. We will rely on you to drive quarterly and annual planning, and to hold our teams accountable to producing cutting-edge technology. You have strong business acumen, and can establish relationships with internal and external user groups to define and deliver valuable outcomes that are quantifiable and measurable.. You will define playbooks for product management at Saildrone and grow a team of PMs to support the overall organization.
You will get leadership visibility and have a direct impact on the technology we use to sail around the world, collecting first-in-class data. You will be a part of a team of talented individuals who are just as passionate about supporting one another as they are about our planetary mission. Honesty and willingness to accept feedback are critical, as is a sense of humor and generally having fun!
Responsibilities
- Manage a team of Product Managers
- Regular 1:1s focused on professional development, feedback, accountability
- Organize and facilitate quarterly planning and roadmap exercises
- Maintain and improve the arsenal of product manager resources and tools: PRD templates, guidelines, analyses, etc.
- Manage resourcing of PMs to products, programs, and projects throughout the engineering organization
- Coordinate with other teams like Hardware Engineers, Software Engineers, Operations team members, Technical Program Managers, etc. to ensure that acceptance criteria are clearly defined and documented
- Partner with engineering managers and tech leads to scope timelines and level of effort
- Communicate overall progress to key stakeholders throughout the business
- Performing business analyses and cases for future investments in our roadmap
- Defining KPIs and success metrics for the product management team and roadmap efforts
Required skills and experience
- 10+ years of experience in a product management role
- Experience managing other product managers
- Proficiency in working with Figma, Jira, Confluence and Atlassian tools in detail
- Experience with Agile software development
- Experience working with complex cross-functional/matrixed team structures
- Experience working with on products with integration points with electromechanical components or in the robotics space is a plus
- Proficiency in performing market research and business analyses to guide prioritization and product decisions
- Experience working on B2B and/or B2G products
- Ability to quickly pick up new concepts, and dive into a problem with a solutions-oriented, outcome-focused mindset
- Strong technical understanding and ability to establish credibility with engineers
- A clear and concise communicator, who can ensure that all parties are on the same page and working towards a shared plan
- Ability to travel up to 25% of the time
Desired skills and experience
- BA/BS (or MA/MS) or equivalent experience
- Ability to thrive within a fast-paced, ever-changing startup environment
- Experience working with data and security
- Experience sailing is a plus
Location: This position is in Alameda, CA. Our waterfront office offers beautiful views of San Francisco Bay in always sunny Alameda. Even our walls have good karma, our offices mix software development with a hardware production line in the former airplane hangar used to film ‘The Matrix’.
Physical Requirements: Work is performed on a computer and requires ability to operate a keyboard and other peripheral devices. Required travel can include vehicle, train, or airplane as modes of transportation.
Benefits:
- Medical, dental and vision plans for you and your dependents.
- Short and relaxing ferry ride from the Ferry Building for SF residents
- Enhanced Parental Leave Programs
- Competitive benefits including excellent medical, life insurance, 401k plan
A reasonable estimate of the current range is $173,000-$229,000 annually.
Catch up on the latest news about us:
The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea – The New York Times
Saildrone Takes the Wraps Off its Voyager Autonomous Research Vehicle – TechCrunch
An Underwater Mountain was Newly Discovered off California Coast – San Francisco Chronicle
The Quest for CO2: You Can’t Capture What You Can’t Find – Inside Unmanned Systems
Hacking the Anthropocene with Survivalist Robots [VIDEO] – Freethink
Here’s What Hurricane Fiona’s Surf Looked Like, from Atop a 50-foot Wave – The Washington Post
An Unprecedented View Inside a Hurricane – EOS
Meet the sailing robots trying to solve climate change – The Hill
They Sailed Into a Hurricane, Now These Unmanned Saildrones are Seeking Data on Our Carbon Uptake – CNN
Saildrone Featured Videos Playlist
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
Individual compensation packages are based on geographic location, scope of the role, relevant experience, and the ability to deal with complexity and problem solve within our organization, among other factors
Individuals who require employer sponsorship to remain employed in the United States now or in the future will not be considered for hire for certain positions.
Any unsolicited resumes/candidate profiles submitted through our website or to personal email accounts of employees of Saildrone are considered property of Saildrone and are not subject to payment of agency fees.
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