Deputy Node Lead

Panthalassa • Portland, OR

5d • $210,000 - $280,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Deputy Node Lead is a director-level role in scope, impact, and expectation, serving as a strategic and execution partner to the Vice President of Node Program and helping lead the company’s largest technical program. The role complements the current Node leadership team with additional technical breadth, ideally in electrical systems, embedded software, controls, systems engineering, integration and test, or software-enabled hardware programs. The Deputy Node Lead will understand the full program, take direct ownership of responsibilities suited to their expertise, and lead through influence, credibility, and judgment rather than formal reporting authority.

The role involves owning designs from concept through fabrication and deployment at sea. The successful candidate will work across engineering and executive teams, navigating a creative, scrappy, and collaborative environment with ambiguous technical and organizational challenges. The position is on-site at the company’s offices, lab, and shop in Portland, Oregon, and requires travel to vendors and test sites as needed.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, or a related technical field.
• 10 or more years of experience in complex technical environments, preferably involving integrated hardware and software systems.
• At least 5 years of experience in technical leadership, program leadership, or engineering management.
• Depth in at least one relevant domain, such as electrical systems, embedded software, controls or autonomy, systems engineering, integration and test, software-enabled hardware, enterprise software or data systems, turbomachinery or generators, or manufacturing and operations for complex hardware.
• Proven experience helping lead large, complex technical programs from planning through execution, spanning engineering, test, manufacturing, operations, software, or supply chain.
• Strong systems thinking and ability to reason across technical, schedule, cost, resource, and organizational constraints.
• Demonstrated ability to earn trust with senior technical teams and communicate complex technical topics clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong judgment in ambiguous, fast-moving environments with incomplete information.
• Ability to travel to vendors and test sites as needed.
• Ability to work longer hours and weekends intermittently to support critical needs.

Nice To Haves

• Prior experience as an engineering leader, integrated product team lead, or senior technical program or systems leader on electrical, embedded software, controls, autonomy, or software-intensive hardware programs.
• Experience in ocean technology, energy systems, aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, industrial equipment, or other complex engineered products.
• Demonstrated strength in influence-based leadership, including coaching, team development, accountability, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Master’s degree or PhD in a relevant technical field.
• PMP, systems engineering, or related certifications.
• Familiarity with Jira, Confluence, MS Project, Smartsheet, or similar planning and execution systems.

Responsibilities

• Deliver node designs and physical nodes that meet performance targets, can be executed within available resources, arrive on schedule, and are technically coherent across hardware, software, data, operations, and deployment.
• Lead Node program planning, execution, and delivery with technical program managers, engineering leaders, and functional teams, managing scope, schedule, budget, resources, and dependencies.
• Strengthen program operating rhythms by leading planning cycles, milestone reviews, decision forums, and execution tracking, and translate company-level goals into actionable program priorities.
• Identify risks and opportunities early, develop mitigation or capture plans, and ensure appropriate organizational visibility.
• Provide strategic leadership for systems engineering, architecture, and integration across mechanical, electrical, software, controls, data, test, operations, and deployment considerations.
• Lead trade studies and decisions balancing performance, reliability, manufacturability, cost, schedule, and operational complexity.
• Communicate program status, risks, milestones, decisions, and tradeoffs to executive stakeholders and technical teams.
• Create clarity in ambiguous technical and organizational contexts, ensuring decisions are made at the right level with appropriate input and clarifying ownership, priorities, interfaces, and decision rights.
• Build trust across engineering, program management, operations, supply chain, finance, and executive stakeholders.
• Coach technical leads through ambiguity, tradeoffs, and execution challenges.

Benefits

• Equity in the company.
• Flexible paid time off.
• Health insurance, with the company paying 100% of the gold-level PPO plan for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents.
• Dental insurance, with the company paying 100% for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents.
• Vision insurance, with the company paying 100% for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents.
• Disability insurance, with the company paying 100% for a policy providing long-term financial support if the employee becomes disabled.
• Ability to contribute to tax-advantaged accounts, including a 401(k), health FSA, and dependent care FSA.
• Relocation assistance to facilitate a move to Portland, if needed.
• Flexible working hours and a high degree of autonomy.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director