Blue Water Autonomy Inc. · 15 hours ago
Ship Design Manager
Washington, DC
Contract
Onsite
Senior Level
$125K/yr - $160K/yr
5+ years expBlue Water Autonomy Inc. is an early-stage maritime defense technology startup focused on designing and building autonomous ships. The Ship Design Manager will support the planning and execution of ship programs, ensuring alignment across teams in the development of complex maritime systems.
Machinery ManufacturingManufacturingMarine TransportationShipping
Responsibilities
Support the Program Manager in planning and executing ship programs across the full lifecycle
Track cost, schedule, technical performance, and risk; assist with program reporting and reviews
Coordinate internal teams to ensure milestones, deliverables, and contractual requirements are met
Assist with proposal development, work breakdown structures (WBS), schedules, and resource planning
Support customer engagements, technical interchange meetings (TIMs), and program reviews
Support ship design activities including hull form, arrangements, structures, propulsion, electrical power, autonomy hardware integration, and payload systems
Assist in managing interfaces between hull/mechanical systems, electrical systems, autonomy software, sensors, and mission payloads
Help maintain technical baselines, configuration control, and design documentation
Support trade studies, design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR), and technical decision-making
Coordinate with naval architects, marine engineers, autonomy engineers, and suppliers to resolve design and integration issues
Support requirements development, allocation, and traceability for autonomous surface vessels
Assist with integration of autonomy, navigation, collision avoidance, and remote operations systems into the ship design
Support verification and validation planning, including dock trials, sea trials, and autonomy testing
Help ensure compliance with applicable maritime regulations, class rules, and customer requirements
Track technical, cost, and schedule risks and support mitigation planning
Support engineering change control and configuration management processes
Assist with lessons learned and continuous improvement initiatives
Qualification
Required
Degree in relevant Engineering field, mechanical, marine, naval architecture or similar
5+ years of relevant work experience with preference for technical design product development as well as program management as a team lead or personnel manager
Preferred
Advanced degree, certificates or course work in Engineering or Program management preferred
PE license, Six Sigma, PMP certifications or similar preferred
Professional publications in relevant disciplines of interest
Benefits
Startup equity options
Generous PTO
Medical, dental, and vision coverage
Company
Blue Water Autonomy Inc.
We’re building autonomous ships for the U.S. Navy and commercial customers.
2-10 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageTotal Funding
$64MKey Investors
Google VenturesEclipse Ventures
2025-08-26Series A· $50M
2025-04-11Seed· $14M
Leadership Team
Rylan Hamilton
CEO and Co-Founder
Ryan Maatta
Vice President of marine engineering
Recent News
2025-11-03
2025-10-29
Company data provided by crunchbase