Solutions Architect at Blue Water Autonomy – Washington, District of Columbia

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.

The Role

We’re seeking a Solutions Architect to support customer-facing technical engagements across multiple defense customers, including the Navy, Army, and joint organizations. This is a mid-level individual contributor role focused on deeply understanding Blue Water’s product, shaping how it is presented to different customers, and ensuring customer needs are clearly communicated back to engineering.

You’ll work closely with business development, product, and engineering to support capture efforts, proposals, and customer engagements. Engineering owns detailed system design; this role owns solution framing, content production, and technical communication.

This role can be based in Washington, DC or the Boston area, with travel as needed. U.S. Person status is required as this position needs to access export controlled data.

What You'll Do

• Develop a deep understanding of Blue Water’s products and how they apply across different missions, customers, and acquisition pathways
• Support multiple customer accounts by shaping technical solutions and narratives tailored to operators, requirements, acquisition, and program office stakeholders
• Author and contribute to RFIs, RFPs, white papers, and other capture materials by translating technical inputs into clear, customer-focused solutions
• Produce high-quality written and visual content, including solution descriptions, system diagrams, and briefing decks
• Support customer engagements by preparing and delivering technical briefings and supporting materials
• Help articulate concepts of operation and integration approaches appropriate to different services and mission sets
• Collect, synthesize, and communicate customer requirements, feedback, and constraints back to engineering and product teams
• Partner with engineering to ensure external-facing content is technically accurate and internally aligned
• Maintain and improve reusable solution content, reference architectures, and proposal libraries
• Support demonstrations, experiments, and early programs by helping align customer expectations with product capabilities

Who You Are

• Bring 5+ years of experience in solutions architecture, systems engineering, technical writing, consulting or customer-facing technical roles
• Have experience supporting defense or government customers across multiple stakeholders and missions
• Are comfortable synthesizing complex technical information into clear, concise written and visual content
• Understand how defense organizations evaluate, acquire, and field new technology
• Communicate clearly with engineers, business leaders, and government customers
• Are highly organized and able to support multiple efforts in parallel
• Exercise strong judgment when working with incomplete information and evolving requirements
• Thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and take ownership of deliverables
• Are eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance (Top Secret preferred)

Nice-To-Haves

• Experience supporting Navy or Army customers
• Familiarity with autonomous systems, unmanned vehicles, or maritime platforms
• Background in military operations, defense consulting, or government service
• Experience contributing to capture efforts or proposal-driven development
• Exposure to ship systems, surface warfare, or joint concepts of operation
• Active security clearance (TS//SCI a plus)

What We Offer

• Incredibly high-caliber teammates. You’ll work directly with our co-founders Rylan, Scott, and Austin.
• A fast-paced, creative working environment that offers a lot of room for ownership and growth.
• Opportunity to join a meaningful mission that protects America and our Democracy.
• Expected Salary Range: $140,000-$170,000 annual base salary. Final compensation will depend on experience and skill level
• Startup equity options
• Generous PTO, medical, dental, and vision coverage

We are an equal opportunity employer. All hiring is contingent on eligibility to work in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or transfer visas for applicants.