Hydrodynamics and Stability Lead

Ocean Atomics•Bethesda, MD

2d•$150,000 - $235,000

About The Position

The ocean is the largest undeveloped frontier on earth — and the next chapter of abundant energy will be written at sea. We're building the infrastructure to power it. About Ocean Atomics (OA) Ocean Atomics is an American company designing, licensing, and assembling a standardized nuclear electric power plant and the surrounding support systems for maritime applications. We will install these plants on any vessel built to our nuclear-ready standards, and will provide end-to-end sustainment in our planned nuclear lifecycle dockyard. We will help develop the licensed operators to unlock this new capability for your energy intensive application at sea. To move fast and to lead the creation of this new market, we are leveraging the compact, proven systems enabled by water-cooled reactors. Our mission Scale nuclear energy. Power generations. Our vision A maritime commons thriving with abundant, economical, modern, and safe nuclear-powered activity — built, serviced, and staffed by re-industrialized American shipyards and people. Role Summary As Hydrodynamics & Stability Lead, you lead the seakeeping, hydrodynamics, and stability engineering for the vessels that carry Ocean Atomics' nuclear electric plant. You're responsible for how those vessels move, hold station, and stay stable in real ocean conditions, from initial concept through class and flag-state approval, working closely with the Principal Naval Architect and our structures, weights, and nuclear integration teams. The plant is a heavy, high-consequence payload that reshapes the stability problem, and your analysis is what demonstrates a vessel can carry it safely across its service life. This is the work that brings maritime nuclear into being, and you'll set the seakeeping and stability basis every vessel that carries our plant is engineered against. The ideal candidate holds stability margins as sacred while staying energized rather than rattled by a payload no one has designed a vessel around before, and treats class and flag review as problem-solving rather than box-checking.

Requirements

Bachelor's or advanced degree in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
Track record leading hydrodynamics, seakeeping, and stability work from concept through class approval. Typically built over 8+ years focused on marine hydrodynamics, stability, or floating-system design in offshore, naval, heavy-lift, or comparable high-consequence contexts. Depth of experience, design cycles, and successful delivery of major stability and seakeeping work is valued above years of experience.
Working command of intact and damage stability criteria and of class society (ABS, LR, etc.) and flag state (USCG, etc.) review processes.
Proficiency with the hydrodynamics and stability tool stack (GHS, MOSES, WAMIT, ANSYS AQWA, or equivalent).

Nice To Haves

Experience with floating production or offshore assets (FPSO, semi-submersibles, spars) where weight, stability, and mooring are unforgiving.
Background in naval survivability and shock, or in high-consequence cargo vessels (LNG carriers, heavy-lift).
Experience helping establish the technical or regulatory basis for a first-of-a-kind or novel vessel class, rather than only demonstrating compliance against mature rules.

Responsibilities

Lead intact and damage stability analysis across operating, transient, and damaged conditions, demonstrating adequate righting energy and survivability against SOLAS, class, and flag criteria for a vessel carrying a heavy reactor payload.
Run hull-wave interaction modeling, CFD, and model-test campaigns to predict seakeeping and motion behavior in the metocean conditions the vessel will operate and hold station in.
Establish and protect the KG, weight-growth, and buoyancy-reserve margins that let the hull accept our nuclear electric plant without eroding stability across the service life.
Design and analyze station-keeping and mooring configurations, and run the dynamic simulations that keep the vessel on station across a decades-long service life.
Partner with the Principal Naval Architect, structures, and weights teams, and with our nuclear integration team, so the hull's stability envelope is designed to receive the plant from the start, not retrofitted.
Produce the stability booklets, hydrodynamic reports, and safety-at-sea documentation that clear classification society (ABS, LR, etc.) and flag state (USCG, etc.) reviews.