Job Description
Forward Deployed Engineering ManagerTocaro Blue is seeking a
Forward Deployed Engineering Manager to lead a small, highly capable team responsible for connecting our ProteusCore™ and ApolloCore™ platforms with real-world mission success. This role combines
technical leadership, people management, customer engagement, and hands-on problem solving in demanding operational environments.
You will manage a team of up to four FDE's while remaining actively involved in customer deployments, system integrations, troubleshooting, and field operations. You will serve as a key technical and operational interface between Tocaro Blue, our customers, and our internal engineering teams, primarily supporting Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) builders and other maritime sensing programs.
This is a hands-on leadership role requiring approximately
50% travel to customer sites, test locations, and operational environments.
Responsibilities- Lead, manage, and develop a team of up to four Forward Deployed Engineers, providing coaching, technical guidance, prioritization, performance feedback, and professional development.
- Serve as a primary technical and operational point of contact for customers during integrations, demonstrations, testing, sea trials, and deployments.
- Lead deployment planning and execution, balancing customer priorities, engineering resources, schedules, technical risks, and mission requirements.
- Serve as a senior escalation point for complex field issues, bringing a structured and practical approach to diagnosing and solving problems under time and operational constraints.
- Remain technically hands-on as needed, supporting the mechanical, electrical, networking, and software integration of ProteusCore™, ApolloCore™, and marine sensor payloads onto customer vessels, USVs, and other maritime platforms.
- Lead the deployment and testing of ProteusCore™ and ApolloCore™ in the field, identifying and resolving issues involving networking, perception, sensor fusion, hardware, software, and overall system performance.
- Plan and lead dockside testing and sea trials, ensuring teams, vessels, hardware, software, test plans, and customer stakeholders are prepared for successful execution.
- Analyze performance data and lessons learned from real-world missions and deployments and translate those findings into actionable recommendations for engineering and product teams.
- Partner closely with ML engineering, software engineering, product, and company leadership to resolve customer challenges and improve the reliability, usability, and scalability of Tocaro Blue systems.
- Identify recurring field issues and drive root-cause resolution rather than relying on short-term fixes.
- Help determine team staffing, scheduling, travel, and resource allocation across simultaneous customer programs and deployments.[JM1]
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as ocean engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, naval architecture, or a related technical discipline.
- 7+ Years of experience in leading, managing, mentoring, or developing technical personnel, with the ability to effectively manage a team of up to four engineers.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with demonstrated ability to establish credibility and build productive relationships with customers, engineers, operators, and business stakeholders.
- Experience with Information Technology and configuring local networks, including tools such as NMCLI.
- Experience working with Linux-based operating systems.
- Ability to diagnose and debug complex systems spanning networking, hardware, software, perception, sensors, and autonomy behaviors.
- Willingness and ability to work in dynamic, hands-on environments, including on and near the water.
- Willingness to travel approximately 50%, including travel to customer facilities, test sites, and maritime operating locations.
Preferred Qualifications- Previous experience managing or leading a field engineering, deployment, integration, applications engineering, or customer-facing technical team.
- Experience managing multiple customer deployments or technical programs simultaneously.
- Demonstrated success resolving difficult customer issues while maintaining strong customer relationships.
- Software engineering capability, with experience in Python, C++, Rust, or similar languages for hardware bring-up, test automation, integration, or system debugging.
- Experience with autonomous systems, USVs, boats, or ships.
- Experience integrating sensors such as radar, EO/IR cameras, GPS, and IMUs, particularly in perception-driven autonomy applications.
- Familiarity with ruggedized or IP-rated hardware and electronics.
- Experience working with U.S. Government, defense, maritime, or other mission-oriented customers is a plus.
Compensation & Commitment- Competitive salary, with potential for incentive equity compensation.
- 401(k) with matching up to 4% of salary.
- Health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
- Approximately 50% travel, with the role based out of our engineering office in Birmingham, Alabama.
- In-house training on Tocaro Blue products, tools, and techniques.
- Ability to work on U.S. Government contracts, subject to applicable eligibility requirements.
[JM1]We need to shorten this
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