Director of Marine Environmental Impact

Job Description

Job Description

About the Company

We are a renewable energy and ocean technology company committed to rapidly developing and deploying technologies that will ensure a sustainable future for Earth by unlocking the vast energy potential of its oceans. Our focus is on capturing civilizational levels of ultra-low-cost renewable energy for applications including computing and affordable renewable fuels delivered to shore.

The company is a public benefit corporation headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and backed by leading venture capitalists, philanthropic investors, university endowments, and individual investors. We operate as an idea meritocracy in which the best ideas change the company's direction on a regular basis.

This is an opportunity to shape the development, environmental profile, and ultimate impact of a fundamentally new renewable energy technology with the potential to achieve planetary scale.

The ocean is not just a valuable renewable energy resource. It's a dynamic, interconnected, critically important ecosystem. Our ocean technologies must set a new bar for clean, low-impact renewable energy both in how they convert ocean energy and in how they're constructed, repaired, and eventually recycled.

As Director of Marine Environmental Impact, you will help make Panthalassa's ocean energy platform one of the cleanest, lowest-impact energy technologies ever developed. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will work closely with our engineering teams, physicists, scientists, and marine operators to understand the interactions between our technology and the ocean environment and minimize the ecological impact of each successive technology iteration.

You will build a team focused on grounding Panthalassa's engineering and strategy in a deep empirical understanding of our effects on ocean ecosystems. You'll develop environmental standards and measurement practices suited for both pilot and large-scale deployments.

You'll build relationships with marine science organizations, nonprofits, universities, independent researchers, and other scientific institutions, enabling third-party research and scientific collaboration through data-sharing and joint research efforts.

Representing Panthalassa externally, you'll communicate our findings about our environmental footprint and about the environmental characteristics, potential advantages, and tradeoffs of open-ocean wave energy as compared to other planetary-scale energy options, such as conventional fossil-fuel energy systems.

Strong candidates will have a deep background in marine biology, oceanography, ecology, or a related field; experience studying anthropogenic impacts on the ocean; a passion for advising engineers on the development of new technologies; and significant experience communicating scientific findings to both public and academic audiences. 

This role is ideal for someone who is passionate about ocean health, grounded in empirical research, intellectually curious, and excited by the opportunity to shape how a new technology platform interacts with the marine environment.

Company Strategy

• Build out and lead Panthalassa's internal environmental impact function as the company and its deployments scale 
• Expand Panthalassa's scientific research strategy around environmental impact, including determining where the company will conduct research internally and facilitate independent research 
• Help determine where scientific uncertainty should change company strategy, engineering priorities, or deployment plans

Environmental Impact Assessment and Mitigation

• Lead the scientific evaluation of how Panthalassa's open-ocean technologies interact with marine ecosystems, including identifying the most 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 to evaluate successive generations of Panthalassa's technology and deployments 
• Lead the documentation and publication of environmental research methods, findings, and uncertainties
• Develop approaches for independent scientific review and third-party validation of Panthalassa's environmental impact

Partnership with Engineering and Deployment Teams

• Collaborate with engineering and design teams on integrating environmental considerations into the design and operation of hardware
• Develop clear internal guidance so engineering teams can understand environmental tradeoffs early and incorporate findings into device design, deployment methods, ongoing operations, recovery, and end-of-life planning
• Work with engineering teams to determine how Panthalassa's technologies can be instrumented to measure their own environmental interactions and the surrounding ocean environment 

External Engagement

• Build deep partnerships with universities, research institutions, independent scientists, nonprofits, government researchers, and other scientific organizations to study Panthalassa's technologies and inform our environmental strategy 
• Create opportunities for independent researchers to study our technologies, challenge our assumptions, and publish useful scientific findings 
• Develop approaches for sharing scientifically valuable data generated by 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 external and internal audiences

• A doctorate in marine science, oceanography, ecology, environmental science, or a related discipline, with a substantial record of scientific research and leadership and 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 a 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
• A strong commitment to scientific integrity, ocean health, and the responsible development of technologies intended to operate at large scale

• 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 technologies such as passive hydrophones, temperature and salinity sensors, underwater cameras, eDNA, or other marine sensing technologies 
• Experience building, analyzing, and publishing large scientific datasets

We encourage you to apply even if you meet only some of these desired qualifications. We value curiosity, integrity, and the ability to learn quickly.

• Travel for fieldwork, partner visits, and conferences
• Ability to work occasional extended hours to support deployments
• A cover letter is strongly recommended

If hired for this full-time role, you will receive:

• Cash compensation of $230,000 - $350,000, based on experience and qualifications.
• Equity in the company. We're all owners and if we're successful, this equity should be far and away the most valuable component of your compensation.
• A benefits package that helps you take care of yourself and your family, including:
  • Flexible paid time off
  • Health insurance (the company pays 100% of 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 (the company pays 100% for a policy to provide long-term financial support if you become disabled)
  • Ability to contribute to tax-advantaged accounts, including 401(k), health FSA, and dependent care FSA
• Relocation assistance to facilitate your move to Portland (if needed).

This is a full-time, on-site position in Portland, Oregon, with flexibility for fieldwork and occasional remote work; exceptional candidates will be considered for remote or hybrid positions.