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Salary: USD 250,000 - 350,000 / annual
Panthalassa is a renewable energy and ocean technology company developing technologies to capture ultra-low-cost renewable energy from the ocean for applications including computing and renewable fuels. The company is a public benefit corporation headquartered in Portland, Oregon, backed by leading venture capitalists, philanthropic investors, and university endowments.
As EVP, Marine Environmental Impact, you will report directly to the CEO and lead the company's environmental impact strategy as it scales its open-ocean wave energy technology. Your core mission is to ensure Panthalassa's ocean energy platform becomes one of the cleanest, lowest-impact energy technologies ever developed.
You will build and lead an internal environmental impact function, developing the company's scientific research strategy around environmental impact and determining where research will be conducted internally versus facilitated through independent partners. You'll lead scientific evaluation of how Panthalassa's technologies interact with marine ecosystems, develop environmental assessment protocols and monitoring strategies for at-sea deployments, and establish metrics and standards to evaluate successive technology generations.
You will collaborate closely with engineering, design, and deployment teams to integrate environmental considerations into hardware design, operations, recovery, and end-of-life planning. You'll work with engineers to instrument technologies to measure their own environmental interactions and the surrounding ocean environment.
Externally, you will build deep partnerships with universities, research institutions, independent scientists, nonprofits, and government researchers. You'll create opportunities for independent researchers to study Panthalassa's technologies, develop approaches for sharing scientifically valuable data with the broader research community, represent the company at scientific conferences, and create scientifically accurate materials for internal and external audiences.
You will help determine where scientific uncertainty should change company strategy, engineering priorities, or deployment plans, and lead documentation and publication of environmental research methods, findings, and uncertainties.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Doctorate in marine science, oceanography, ecology, environmental science, or related discipline, with substantial record of scientific research and leadership and 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 technology development
- Willingness to travel for fieldwork, partner visits, and conferences
- Ability to work occasional extended hours to support deployments
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience leading a significant research program, laboratory, scientific organization, or research institution, or building major scientific partnerships
- Experience with ocean sensing and environmental monitoring systems (passive hydrophones, temperature/salinity sensors, underwater cameras, eDNA, or other marine sensing technologies)
- Experience building, analyzing, and publishing large scientific datasets
