EVP, Marine Environmental Impact

Panthalassa • Portland, OR

3d • Onsite

About The Position

Panthalassa is seeking an executive to shape the environmental profile and impact of its ocean-energy technology. The EVP, Marine Environmental Impact will lead the company’s environmental impact function and help ensure its ocean energy platform is developed and deployed with a strong empirical understanding of effects on ocean ecosystems. Reporting directly to the CEO, this executive will work closely with engineering teams, physicists, scientists, and marine operators; establish environmental standards and measurement practices for pilot and large-scale deployments; and develop scientific partnerships and collaborations. The role also represents Panthalassa externally, communicating research findings and explaining the environmental characteristics, potential advantages, and tradeoffs of open-ocean wave energy compared with other energy options.

The position requires a doctorate in a relevant scientific discipline, a substantial record of research and leadership, and at least five years of relevant postdoctoral professional experience. The role 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 for fieldwork, partner visits, and conferences is required, and occasional extended hours may be needed 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 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, including passive hydrophones, temperature and salinity sensors, underwater cameras, eDNA, or other marine sensing technologies.
• Experience building, analyzing, and publishing large scientific datasets.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead Panthalassa’s internal environmental impact function as the company and its deployments scale.
• Expand the company’s scientific research strategy, including deciding what research to conduct internally and where to facilitate independent research.
• Help determine where 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 important 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.
• Work with engineering and design teams to integrate environmental considerations into hardware design and operation.
• Create internal guidance to help engineering teams understand environmental tradeoffs early 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 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; work occasional extended hours to support deployments.

Benefits

• Equity in the company.
• Flexible paid time off.
• Health insurance; the company pays 100% of a gold-level PPO plan for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents.
• Dental insurance; the company pays 100% for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents.
• Vision insurance; the company pays 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: Executive
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree