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Salary: USD 125,000 - 175,000 / annual
Panthalassa is a renewable energy and ocean technology company developing devices that capture energy from the ocean to power computing and produce affordable renewable fuels. The company is a public benefit corporation backed by leading venture capitalists and philanthropic investors, headquartered in Portland, Oregon.
As the Internal Harness and Interconnect Engineer, you will own the design, architecture, and end-to-end delivery of all internal wiring, cabling, and interconnects for the company's core node technology—a device that operates in harsh ocean conditions for years without human maintenance. You will serve as the technical bridge between Electrical Engineering and Core Systems & Software teams, manage external manufacturing partners, and act as the primary technical authority on the shop floor for diagnosing and resolving integration issues.
Key responsibilities include:
- Lead the complete interconnection lifecycle for all dry-side node electronics, including connector selection, harness routing, wire termination, backshell integration, potting, strain relief, and mechanical retention.
- Develop and standardize robust harness assembly workflows (crimping, soldering, potting, connectorization, continuity/hipot testing) to ensure repeatable, high-yield builds from prototype to production.
- Embed Design for Excellence (DFX) principles: optimize for manufacturability (DFM) by simplifying connector counts and standardizing keying/polarization; optimize for testability (DFT) by integrating automated continuity test points and derating strategies to survive continuous thermal-mechanical stress and high-vibration ocean environments.
- Architect clean signal and power pathways to eliminate electromagnetic interference, crosstalk, and ground loops between high-speed data channels and power lines.
- Manage the interconnect bill of materials and vendor pipeline, driving procurement, tolerance analysis, second-sourcing, and obsolescence mitigation for future node architecture rollouts.
- Drive quality verification and shop-floor triage, leading first article inspections and serving as the primary technical authority to debug electrical interconnect anomalies during system integration.
You will own your designs cradle-to-grave, from first concept through fabrication and deployment at sea. The role requires travel to vendors and test sites as needed, and intermittent longer hours and weekend work to support critical needs. The company emphasizes autonomy, work-life balance, flexible PTO, and flexible working hours.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Demonstrated capability in designing, packaging, and documenting complex wiring harnesses and interconnect assemblies for high-reliability systems (aerospace, marine, automotive, robotics, industrial automation, or other harsh environments).
- Deep technical knowledge of connector families (Phoenix, Amphenol, Deutsch, Molex), specialized wire insulation/jacketing materials, and cable shielding techniques.
- Demonstrated track record diagnosing and resolving noise, grounding, and signal integrity artifacts in mixed data/power cabling architectures.
- Proficiency in wire harness design software (Zuken E3.series, RapidHarness, or equivalents).
- Hands-on expertise with harness fabrication, crimp validation, rework tools, and diagnostic instrumentation (DMMs, oscilloscopes, TDRs, insulation testers/meggers).
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or equivalent field.
- Familiarity with industry manufacturing standards such as IPC/WHMA-A-620 (Class 3) or high-reliability aerospace/military equivalents.
- Experience designing interconnects for sealed enclosures, pressure vessels, or chassis exposed to rigorous shock, vibration, and thermal cycling environments.
- Experience with high-speed data transmission (Ethernet, RF, high-speed differential pairs), fiber optic terminations, or high-voltage DC distribution.
- Familiarity with automated wire processing equipment and automated harness test systems (Cirris, CableEye).
- Proven track record establishing vendor second-sourcing and qualification pipelines for custom cable assemblies and specialized interconnect hardware.
