Careers

Hidden Gradient is seeking expressions of interest from experienced naval professionals to help shape emerging maritime sensing and autonomous systems opportunities.

We are interested in people who combine operational judgment, trusted relationships, and a practical understanding of how new capabilities move from a mission need to evaluation and adoption.

The opportunity

You would work directly with company leadership and technical teams to understand naval mission challenges, develop customer relationships, and guide opportunities for demonstrations, pilots, and longer-term adoption.

Areas of interest include persistent maritime sensing, subsea systems, autonomous platforms, and operations in challenging environments.

What you would help accomplish

• Identify operational problems where Hidden Gradient’s capabilities could provide meaningful value.
• Build relationships with relevant operators, technical stakeholders, program offices, and industry partners.
• Lead customer discovery discussions and translate findings into clear mission needs and product priorities.
• Help define credible use cases, demonstration objectives, and measures of success.
• Identify potential sponsors and pathways for pilot projects and subsequent adoption.
• Support opportunity qualification, teaming, proposals, and customer presentations.
• Give leadership candid feedback about mission relevance, competitive alternatives, and barriers to adoption.

The experience we value

• Substantial experience in naval operations or closely related maritime defense missions.
• Credibility communicating with operational and technical audiences.
• Ability to connect mission needs with realistic engineering and business decisions.
• A record of building trusted professional relationships and moving initiatives forward.
• Strong communication, sound judgment, and comfort working in an early-stage company.

Experience with undersea operations, ISR, unmanned systems, capability development, experimentation, or defense acquisition would be especially relevant.

Engagement

Hidden Gradient is exploring flexible ways to work with the right person or organization. We welcome interest in full-time or part-time employment, periodic advisory support, consulting, and subcontract arrangements.

The scope, time commitment, compensation, and start date will be discussed based on mutual fit and current business needs. This is an exploratory opportunity.

Hidden Gradient is seeking a hands-on engineering undergraduate to help build, assemble, and test prototype hardware and laboratory systems.

You will work directly with company leadership to turn engineering concepts into working test setups, run experiments, and keep development moving forward. This opportunity is well suited to someone who enjoys building things, troubleshooting problems, and learning through practical work.

What you will do

• Help assemble test rigs, fixtures, and laboratory test systems.
• Support prototype assembly, modification, and troubleshooting.
• Help install sensors, instrumentation, and data acquisition equipment.
• Prepare and conduct tests under guidance, following established safety procedures.
• Record test conditions, organize data, and document results.
• Help maintain organized tools, components, and work areas.

Who we are looking for

An undergraduate pursuing mechanical or electrical engineering, or a related discipline. Chemical engineering students with relevant hands-on interests and experience are also encouraged to apply.

We value reliability, curiosity, attention to detail, and demonstrated ability to work with physical hardware. Relevant experience may come from coursework, student teams, laboratory work, employment, or personal projects.

Experience with hand tools, mechanical assembly, CAD, basic electronics, soldering, sensors, or data acquisition is helpful. You do not need experience in every area.

Location and compensation

This is an on-site opportunity in Huntsville, Alabama, intended for someone located within commuting distance.

The internship is paid, with compensation negotiable based on relevant skills and experience. Weekly hours, start date, and duration are flexible and will be agreed upon based on project needs and your academic schedule.