Maritime Engineer Fleet Maintenance & Refit

SailFuture is a nonprofit that uses sailing education and workforce programs to change the lives of young people. Our fleet carries students on expeditions trains crew and runs the organizations operations. We need one person who keeps it all ready for sea.

This isnt a role where you spot a problem and pass it to a contractor. You open the machinery space test the system find what failed source the parts and fix it or direct the right specialist. Then you plan the refits and shipyard periods that keep the fleet running for years.

• Salary

  • $65000 base annual Impact Compensation

• Reports to

  • Fleet Manager & CEO

• Location

  • St. Petersburg FL with travel to vessels and shipyards

• Start date

  • February 1 2027

• Travel

  • Regular domestic and international travel

• Benefits

  • 15 days PTO 11 paid holidays 401(k) with 6% match $250 health insurance contribution

• 105 Feadship: repairs needed for operational readiness

• 100 Ketch Whatever It Takes: operational

• 65 MacGregor Sloop Defy the Odds: full refit needed

• 54 Hatteras Flybridge: repairs needed for operational readiness

• 24 SafeBoat: full refit needed

Keep the fleet reliable

• Build and run a preventative maintenance program for every vessel

• Diagnose and repair engines generators electrical plumbing HVAC hydraulics and refrigeration

• Do the work yourself or decide when a specialist is needed

• Keep logs service histories manuals and spare parts inventories current

• Make sure critical spares are aboard before any offshore voyage

• Set daily through annual maintenance routines with captains and crew

Run refits and shipyard periods

• Assess vessel condition and build prioritized scopes of work

• Prepare budgets schedules equipment specs and bid packages

• Evaluate shipyard and contractor proposals then keep projects on time and on budget

• Inspect the work run commissioning and sea trials and update the documentation

Manage vendors and parts

• Build a bench of trusted shipyards contractors and suppliers

• Negotiate pricing define scopes and check invoices against completed work

• Source parts domestically and internationally including obsolete equipment

• Make the repair vs. replace call

Keep vessels safe and compliant

• Help captains close out findings from inspections surveys and audits

• Support flag-state classification insurance and safety requirements

• Plan for machinery failures and emergency response

Systems youll own
Diesel propulsion and generators running gear 12/24V DC and 120/230V AC battery banks inverters shore power solar watermakers sanitation refrigeration chilled-water AC hydraulics thrusters and steering. On the sailboats: rigging winches windlasses and sail-handling gear working alongside riggers and sailmakers.

What you bring

• Substantial professional experience maintaining repairing or operating complex recreational commercial or large-yacht vessels

• Hands-on experience with several of these: marine diesel generators DC and AC electrical inverters and battery systems plumbing HVAC and refrigeration hydraulics watermakers marine electronics fiberglass and carpentry

• You read wiring diagrams schematics and mechanical drawings and can research unfamiliar equipment on your own

• You can run a project and hold shipyards and contractors accountable

• Organized records and documentation

• Willing to work in engine rooms travel internationally and work aboard when needed

• Valid drivers license and passport

Nice to have

• USCG credential or STCW

• Yacht refit management

• International vessel operations

• Experience on vessels 50 to 120 feet including sailing vessels

• Experience with older vessels carrying several generations of equipment

Why this role

Youll know its working when preventative maintenance replaces emergency repairs captains trust their boats and every vessel leaves the dock with the spares it needs. Reliable vessels are how our students get to sea. You keep them ready.

Open items before posting

1. Reports to isnt in the original. Fill it in or cut the line.

2. Impact Compensation amount. The APD posting shows up to $15000. Add a number here if one exists since a dollar figure pulls more applicants on Indeed.

3. Health contribution. Other postings say up to $250/month. Confirm and add the amount.

4. Hatteras to be leased is left out of the public version. Add it back if you want candidates to know.

5. Condensed the full system lists into Systems youll own and folded What Success Looks Like and The Ideal Candidate into the hook and closer.