What are the responsibilities and job description for the Head of Reliability position at Blue Water Autonomy Inc.?
Who We Are
We are an early-stage, maritime defense technology startup backed by top tier investors. Our team is designing and building autonomous and highly producible ships that can serve multiple missions on the open ocean.
Role Summary
We’re seeking a Head of Reliability to lead quality, reliability, and testing for our autonomous naval vessels. This is a critical leadership role at the intersection of hardware, software, and systems engineering. You’ll collaborate closely with the Head of Engineering and Head of Software to ensure our ships operate reliably in the harshest ocean environments for months at a time.
This role is based in our Lexington, MA headquarters, or at our R&D facility located on the South Coast of Massachusetts.. You’ll build reliability and quality systems from the ground up - establishing world-class standards while working within startup constraints.
What You’ll Do
We are an early-stage, maritime defense technology startup backed by top tier investors. Our team is designing and building autonomous and highly producible ships that can serve multiple missions on the open ocean.
Role Summary
We’re seeking a Head of Reliability to lead quality, reliability, and testing for our autonomous naval vessels. This is a critical leadership role at the intersection of hardware, software, and systems engineering. You’ll collaborate closely with the Head of Engineering and Head of Software to ensure our ships operate reliably in the harshest ocean environments for months at a time.
This role is based in our Lexington, MA headquarters, or at our R&D facility located on the South Coast of Massachusetts.. You’ll build reliability and quality systems from the ground up - establishing world-class standards while working within startup constraints.
What You’ll Do
- Define and implement reliability, quality, and testing strategy for autonomous maritime systems
- Build and lead a lean, high-performing reliability organization from the ground up
- Establish quality gates, test protocols, and reliability metrics that balance rigor with speed
- Develop reliability models and failure mode analysis for complex hardware/software systems operating in extreme ocean environments
- Design accelerated life testing and environmental testing programs that validate performance under real-world conditions
- Working with Engineering, create predictive maintenance strategies for systems that must operate autonomously for extended periods
- Build comprehensive test strategies spanning unit, integration, system, and sea trials
- Lead root cause analysis and corrective action processes to improve system performance
- Develop supplier quality programs and incoming inspection protocols
- Establish documentation, traceability, and continuous improvement processes
- Collaborate with engineering, software, and operations teams to embed reliability into design, manufacturing, and testing
- Interface with customers and regulatory bodies on reliability and quality requirements
- Bring extensive experience in reliability, quality, or test engineering roles with increasing leadership responsibility
- Have a proven track record building reliability programs for complex hardware/software systems
- Have at least five years of experience with analysis and test of both hardware and software systems
- Bring deep experience with FMEA, fault tree analysis, reliability modeling, and accelerated testing
- Are comfortable working in resource-constrained environments and making pragmatic tradeoffs
- Have background in defense, maritime, aerospace, automotive, or robotics industries
- Understand autonomous and safety-critical systems operating in harsh environments
- Make sound engineering judgments with incomplete information and adapt quickly
- Are data-driven but know when to rely on test results, analysis, or experience
- Communicate clearly and effectively across technical and non-technical teams
- Are hands-on when needed and thrive in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment
- Hold an advanced degree in mechanical, electrical, or systems engineering
- Have experience with maritime systems, naval architecture, or marine engineering
- Are familiar with MIL-STD reliability and quality standards
- Have worked with AI/ML system validation and testing
- Have led reliability programs in early-stage startups or innovation labs
- Security clearance
- Incredibly high-caliber teammates - you’ll work directly with our co-founders and technical leads
- A mission-driven environment designing technology that protects American lives and democracy
- Significant ownership and influence over how reliability and quality are built at scale
- A fast-paced, creative culture that values clarity, teamwork, and decisive execution
- Equal opportunity employer. All hiring is contingent on eligibility to work in the U.S.; we are unable to sponsor or transfer visas
- Salary Range: $190,000-$220,000 annual base salary
- Additional compensation: Startup equity options
- Benefits: health, dental, vision, PTO
- Final compensation will depend on experience and skill level
Salary : $190,000 - $220,000