Director, Marketing & Brand

San Francisco, CA | Full-time

Ulysses is the ocean company. We design, manufacture, and operate autonomous vehicles for surface and subsea operations — taking on the most critical tasks across defense, commercial, and scientific missions. Our vertically integrated platform includes Mako, a modular AUV with 72-hour endurance and more onboard compute than any vehicle in its class; Leviathan, an autonomous surface vessel mothership; and Kraken, our automated launch-and-recovery system that closes the loop between surface and subsea with zero human intervention.

The ocean covers 71% of the Earth's surface and drives a $2.6 trillion global economy, yet it remains the least monitored domain on the planet. We're changing that — building autonomous systems that collapse the cost of ocean operations by orders of magnitude so that persistent coverage becomes the baseline, not the exception. We operate globally today across defense, ocean science, and commercial survey, working with partners including the U.S. Navy, the Government of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy.

Founded in 2023 and headquartered in San Francisco, Ulysses has raised $48 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Booz Allen Ventures, Harpoon Ventures, Pebblebed, Lowercarbon Capital, and others. Our team is lean, hands-on, and fast — we prototype in the shop, test on the water, and ship. If you want to work at the frontier, there's no frontier bigger than the ocean.

Your Job: Make Ulysses “the Ocean Company”.

Communicate our groundbreaking technology to the world. Turn our work into culture and pipeline. Make top engineers want in and customers call first. Make Ulysses “the ocean company”, the defining maritime technology brand. We've been heads down on technical breakthroughs. Now we need someone to tell our story beyond the workshop and sea trials. You will define the values, voice, and drive the creative direction that guide everything we put into the world, and work hands-on to communicate that inside and out. From our website to launches, from how we explain our work to how we celebrate releases, your influence will be felt at every touchpoint. You will turn our engineering and operations into a clear public story that drives qualified meetings, great candidates, and durable credibility.

This role is for someone with taste who likes to move fast and wants to build a category-leading company for the ocean. If you need a large team to execute the basics, default to agencies, or you’re content with shipping tasteless slop that doesn’t stand out, this will not be a fit.

• A hands-on operator who writes posts, designs websites, and can run a press push; you ship weekly without waiting on agencies.

• A technically fluent storyteller who translates engineering into credible copy for defense and industrial buyers.

• Visually strong with taste, competent in Figma and Photoshop, and comfortable using Gen AI tools, e.g., Midjourney.

• Demand-oriented with a portfolio that shows the ability to turn outputs into applicants or meetings and work tied to pipeline and hiring outcomes, not just impressions.

• Someone who takes deep care with their craft and treats these tools like an artist does.

• Someone who can think in a structured way about problems, track success, and course correct.

• Someone who just figures shit out.

• Someone who loves the ocean.

• Brand leadership: Ulysses is the definitive brand in maritime technology, “taking the air out of the room” versus competitors.

• Talent magnet: an active following of talent with a growing waitlist who are ready to apply.

• Customer demand: a steady stream of monthly sales calls booked.
  

• Visual content, e.g., a best-in-class Twitter and Instagram presence that excites top engineers and documents the work, problems, and impact.

• Written content, e.g, clear posts and blogs that show what we are building, our perspective, and how we help customers.

• Website, e.g., a fast, crisp site and landing pages that tell people what we do and how we can help before the first call.

• Merch, e.g., high-taste drops people actually want, worthy of display and secondhand demand, that signal who we are and attract talent and customers.

• Sales documents: one-pagers and collateral that help close deals.

• And more…

• Brand or product marketing in deeptech, robotics, autonomy, defense adjacent, or maritime industries, such as offshore survey, subsea cables, or offshore wind

• Previous brand, marketing and/or content experience at a high-growth startup.

• Built an audience, such as a newsletter or waitlist from zero and converted it to applicants or meetings

Reports to the President and Co-founder. Works closely with the CEO, CTO, and BD. Based in San Francisco, with travel for industry events and customers. Occasional travel to the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans may be required as needed.