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Dominion Dynamics is seeking a Head of Autonomy for Maritime systems to lead the technical direction and team building for autonomous surface and subsurface vessels operating in challenging maritime environments. This is a full-time, on-site role reporting to the Director of Autonomy.
You will set the maritime autonomy roadmap and translate it into sequenced technical plans with real milestones. Key responsibilities include:
- Building perception and navigation systems for surface and subsurface environments, handling radar, EO/IR, and acoustic sensing through clutter, spray, glare, fog, and ice, with localization that functions without GNSS.
- Designing mission autonomy for long-endurance operations on intermittent communication links, determining what the vessel decides autonomously versus what it holds for operator input.
- Ensuring navigation safety and legibility at sea through collision avoidance and COLREGS-compliant behavior that satisfies both bridge watch operators and certifying authorities.
- Integrating with AuraNet (the company's C2, mesh, and tasking layer) for bandwidth-constrained and disconnected operation.
- Establishing standards for both deterministic and probabilistic autonomy policies, validated in simulation and on the water before operator deployment.
- Hiring, structuring, and leading the maritime autonomy engineering team while working directly with hardware, software, and simulation teams.
- Participating in sea trials, integration testing, and gathering operator feedback in rapid cycles.
The role operates within a high-trust environment with short feedback loops. Systems are currently fielded with the Canadian Armed Forces, including in Canadian ice operations. You will have direct access to leadership and work closely with the customer.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Senior engineering leader with demonstrated experience putting maritime autonomy in the water (USVs, UUVs, or autonomous vessels in real sea states, not just tank/simulator environments).
- Deep expertise in marine autonomy: navigation and localization without GNSS, perception in sea clutter, collision avoidance and COLREGS compliance, and mission autonomy under acoustic or satcom bandwidth constraints.
- Proven experience leading engineering teams—hiring, structuring, and setting technical direction against an accountable roadmap.
- Command of both deterministic policies (predefined rules) and probabilistic autonomy (decision-making under uncertainty), with clear judgment about which approach each mission requires.
- Track record of advancing autonomy from prototype to fielded system, including test campaigns, failure analysis, and evidence that built operator trust.
- Based in Ottawa or willing to relocate; role is on-site with the team and customer.
NICE TO HAVE:
- Arctic or cold-water operations experience and understanding of ice and sea state effects on sensors and vehicle behavior.
- Naval or coast guard program background, or mission context in MDA, ASW, mine countermeasures, or maritime ISR.
- Multi-vehicle and collaborative tasking across vessels or vessels and aircraft.
- Simulation-in-the-loop and sim-to-real validation experience.
- ROS 2 and edge compute on constrained marine hardware.
- Certification or safety-case work for uncrewed vessels (Transport Canada, class societies, IMO MASS).
No defence background required. The company welcomes applications from candidates who don't tick every box.
