# Autonomous Sea Trials Test Planner

**Company**: Saronic Technologies
**Location**: San Francisco
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $120,000 - $150,000 per year
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://jobs.lever.co/saronic/a6f1353d-67cf-4f9d-b314-f57e2b7d1fea
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_23f0d2d8-ef8

## Description

We are seeking an experienced Autonomous Sea Trials Test Planner to join our team. The successful candidate will be responsible for planning, executing, evaluating, and documenting pier-side and underway autonomous vessel test events. This role will involve translating autonomy and control-system requirements into safe, repeatable sea trial procedures; leading onboard execution with vessel crew and engineering teams; and producing internal and class ready trial packages including test plans, SITREPs, test reports, discrepancy tracking, and corrective action documentation.

Key responsibilities include:

* Author and maintain autonomous sea trial test plans covering pier-side and underway verification of autonomy behaviours, machinery control, navigation control, and integrated voyage execution.
* Build test matrices mapping requirements to objective pass/fail criteria, safety controls, data capture needs, and contingency actions.
* Develop event-ready documentation packages including test cards, run sheets, communications plans, safety briefs, and go/no-go checklists.
* Serve as on-scene test lead for autonomy trials, directing real-time execution and ensuring safety-of-test.
* Lead verification of system functionality during operational events to confirm performance against acceptance criteria.
* Coordinate test readiness across vessel condition, maintenance status, and trial prerequisites.
* Establish required logs, timestamps, system states, and annotations to ensure complete data capture.
* Track issues using structured defect workflows including reproducibility steps, severity, and corrective actions.
* Coordinate prioritization of fixes and verify corrections through structured retest events.
* Produce daily SITREPs and formal trial documentation including test reports, discrepancy logs, and corrective action summaries.

The ideal candidate will have 7+ years of experience in test/validation, trials, port engineering, or operational readiness roles for complex systems, with demonstrated experience leading pier-side and underway test execution. Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional communication skills are essential.

We offer a competitive salary, comprehensive health insurance plans, generous PTO and holidays, paid parental leave, and a 401(k) plan. Additionally, we provide stock options, equity options, and basic life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage.

## Skills

### Required
- Test planning
- Autonomy and control-system requirements
- Pier-side and underway test execution
- Vessel crew and engineering teams
- Discrepancy tracking
- Corrective action documentation
- Structured defect workflows
- Prioritization of fixes
- Retest events

### Nice to have
- Marine engineering or naval architecture background
- Experience supporting builder's trials and customer trials on autonomous platforms
- Experience coordinating with classification societies and shipyard periods