Director of Marine Environmental Impact

Panthalassa • Portland, OR

5d • $230,000 - $350,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Panthalassa is seeking a Director of Marine Environmental Impact to shape the environmental profile and impact of its ocean energy platform. Reporting directly to the CEO, this role 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 technology develops and scales.

The Director will build and lead the company’s environmental impact function, develop environmental standards and measurement practices for pilot and large-scale deployments, and guide research strategy and company decisions where scientific uncertainty affects engineering or deployment plans. The role will also establish partnerships with scientific organizations and enable independent research through collaboration and data-sharing.

As an external representative of Panthalassa, the Director will communicate findings about the company’s environmental footprint and the environmental characteristics, potential advantages, and tradeoffs of open-ocean wave energy compared with other large-scale energy options. The position is full-time and primarily on-site in Portland, Oregon, with flexibility for fieldwork and occasional remote work; exceptional candidates may be considered for remote or hybrid arrangements. Travel and occasional extended hours to support deployments are required.

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.
• Willingness 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, or eDNA.
• Experience building, analyzing, and publishing large scientific datasets.
• A cover letter is strongly recommended.

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 determining what research to conduct internally and what independent research to facilitate.
• 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 and identify 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 for evaluating 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 consider environmental tradeoffs in device design, deployment methods, 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 data from Panthalassa’s systems 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.
• Travel for fieldwork, partner visits, and conferences, and work occasional extended hours to support deployments.

Benefits

• Equity in the company.
• Flexible paid time off.
• Health insurance, with the company paying 100% of a 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