Director of Marine Environmental Impact

Panthalassa • Portland, OR

5d • Onsite

About The Position

Panthalassa is seeking a Director of Marine Environmental Impact to shape the environmental profile and impact of its ocean-energy technology. Reporting directly to the CEO, this leader will work with engineering teams, physicists, scientists, and marine operators to understand how the technology interacts with ocean ecosystems and reduce ecological impacts as the platform develops and scales. The role will build and lead the company’s environmental impact function, establish research strategies and environmental standards, and guide engineering and deployment decisions using empirical evidence.

The Director will develop assessment protocols, monitoring strategies, mitigation measures, and metrics for pilot and large-scale deployments. They will foster independent research and scientific collaboration with universities, research organizations, nonprofits, government researchers, and other partners, including through data-sharing and joint research. The role will also represent Panthalassa in the scientific community and communicate findings, uncertainties, environmental tradeoffs, and potential advantages of open-ocean wave energy to academic and public audiences.

This is a full-time, on-site position in Portland, Oregon, with flexibility for fieldwork and occasional remote work. Exceptional candidates may be considered for remote or hybrid positions. Travel for fieldwork, partner visits, and conferences is required, as is the ability to work occasional extended hours to support deployments.

Requirements

• Doctorate in marine science, oceanography, ecology, environmental science, or a related discipline.
• Substantial record of scientific research and leadership, with at least five years of relevant postdoctoral professional experience.
• Experience studying the effects of human activities or technologies on marine mammals, fish, seabirds, benthic ecosystems, or other marine organisms.
• Experience leading scientific teams, research programs, or multidisciplinary initiatives.
• Extensive experience designing, conducting, or leading rigorous scientific research in marine or offshore environments.
• Strong scientific judgment and willingness to communicate uncertainty and inconvenient findings clearly.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with engineering, operations, design, and manufacturing teams.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong commitment to scientific integrity, ocean health, and responsible development of technologies intended to operate at large scale.
• Ability to travel for fieldwork, partner visits, and conferences.
• Ability to work occasional extended hours to support deployments.

Nice To Haves

• Experience leading a significant research program, laboratory, scientific organization, or research institution, or building major scientific partnerships with research institutions.
• Experience with ocean sensing and environmental monitoring systems, such as passive hydrophones, temperature and salinity sensors, underwater cameras, eDNA, or other marine sensing technologies.
• Experience building, analyzing, and publishing large scientific datasets.
• Curiosity, integrity, and ability to learn quickly.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead Panthalassa’s internal environmental impact function as the company and its deployments scale.
• Expand the company’s environmental research strategy, including deciding which research to conduct internally and where to facilitate independent research.
• Help determine when scientific uncertainty should affect company strategy, engineering priorities, or deployment plans.
• Lead scientific evaluation of how Panthalassa’s open-ocean technologies interact with marine ecosystems, identifying key environmental questions as the technology evolves.
• Develop and implement environmental assessment protocols, monitoring strategies, and mitigation measures for at-sea deployments.
• Establish environmental metrics and standards to evaluate successive technology generations and deployments.
• Lead documentation and publication of environmental research methods, findings, and uncertainties.
• Develop approaches for independent scientific review and third-party validation of environmental impact.
• Collaborate with engineering and design teams to integrate environmental considerations into hardware design and operation.
• Develop internal guidance to help engineering teams understand environmental tradeoffs and apply findings to device design, deployment, operations, recovery, and end-of-life planning.
• Work with engineering teams to determine how technologies can be instrumented to measure their environmental interactions and the surrounding ocean environment.
• Build partnerships with universities, research institutions, independent scientists, nonprofits, government researchers, and other scientific organizations.
• Create opportunities for independent researchers to study the technologies, challenge assumptions, and publish scientific findings.
• Develop approaches for sharing scientifically valuable system data with the broader research community.
• Represent Panthalassa in the scientific community, including attending conferences and contributing to working groups.
• Create scientifically accurate materials for internal and external audiences.
• Communicate the company’s environmental findings and the characteristics, potential advantages, and tradeoffs of open-ocean wave energy compared with other large-scale energy options.

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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree