Senior Mechanical Engineer, Sofar Ocean

$125-160k

Senior and Expert level
San Francisco Bay Area
Sofar Ocean

Ocean data monitoring

Open for applications

Sofar Ocean

Ocean data monitoring

21-100 employees

B2BSustainabilityBig dataSaaSData AnalysisEnvironmental

Open for applications

$125-160k

Senior and Expert level
San Francisco Bay Area

21-100 employees

B2BSustainabilityBig dataSaaSData AnalysisEnvironmental

Company mission

To connect the world's oceans to the people who depend on them (all of us).

Role

Who you are

  • At least 8 years of professional ME experience, including in a relevant field (eg: marine, harsh environments, robotics, aerospace etc.)
  • Competent in 3D CAD systems (Solidworks required)
  • Managing CAD data with revision control and transitioning documents with ECO control to a PLM system (Arena preferred)
  • You have participated in the mechanical design of products that have shipped to customers at a variety of scales (10’s to +100,000s)
  • You have transitioned designs to contract manufacturers
  • You have experience creating 2D drawings and tracking revision changes in a BOM
  • You have expertise in material and process selection for use in marine and/or other harsh environment applications

Desirable

  • A multidisciplinary skillset with some experience in electronics or software engineering
  • Expertise in FEA and/or CFD modeling and analysis for static, cyclic, and thermal load cases
  • Experience designing o-ring seals for water proofing in harsh environments
  • Experience with potting and encapsulation
  • Experience maintaining a workshop and operating FDM 3D printers for rapid prototyping
  • Operating manual lathe and milling machines
  • A passion for or connection to the ocean

What the job involves

  • You will be a key contributor to the mechanical design and manufacturing of all our hardware products – will have high visibility and contribute throughout all phases of mechanical design, NPI, regulatory compliance, tooling and manufacturing tasks
  • You will weigh risks, options and outcomes with your teammates, exercising sound design judgement
  • You thrive in small and collaborative multidisciplinary teams, and are eager to pitch in to debug and solve gnarly cross-functional issues
  • You have practical experience to guide material selection when designing components that must survive in harsh environments, and you have a strong foundation in design for manufacturability and pushing products through the NPI process to mass production
  • You strive for the shared success of improving the health of our oceans and planet by shipping a cohesive, solid and impactful product
  • Some projects you’ll be a part of:
  • Building new Bristlemouth integrations for Spotter and Smart Mooring. Expand the sub-sea sensing ecosystem with new modules and payloads
  • Developing next generation platforms for global weather and environmental monitoring
  • Advanced research and experiments with new and emerging technologies and materials
  • Integrated system testing, open ocean deployments, and the occasional throwing of things out of airplanes to see what breaks
  • Provide direct engineering contributions to all Sofar projects/products, including mechanical design, new product introduction and manufacturing engineering
  • Mechanical product design, including, appearance/ID, detailed metal/plastic component design, subassemblies and final product, that includes environmental, thermal and regulatory mitigation, from concept to production
  • Engage with the cross-functional development team from concept, prototype, pilot development, through product launch and production ramp, to ensure schedule, cost, yield, capacity and quality/reliability objectives are met
  • Collaborate with engineering/development team members to identify DfX (manufacturing, quality, sourcing, service, cost) opportunities throughout the development process to ensure all products are designed to meet MVP requirements for manufacturability, reliability, and within cost targets
  • Ensure all required specifications/documentation, materials, equipment, and procedures are in place for all prototype, pre-production and production launches (BOMs, technical documentation, Control Drawings)
  • Work directly with part/tooling suppliers on DFM, tooling reviews and kick-off, tool bring-up, final tool/part qualifications, first article inspection, and visual quality requirements
  • Manage ECOs (Engineering Change Orders) and collaborate with manufacturing partners to account for all changes

Our take

Drastically changing weather and climate is one of the foremost issues of our time. And as we work to limit the impact of the climate crisis, we need trustworthy banks of data on how these changes have manifested, and what trajectory our world is on. This is where Solar Ocean comes in, with its global network of ocean-monitoring buoys.

It is the largest network of its kind, with thousands of solar-powered ‘spotters’ across the world’s oceans delivering over 200,000 updates every day. Its product is used primarily by climate scientists, but also has important applications in shipping, weather forecasting and maritime research as well.

Sofar is the largest network of its kind, and even though its spotters aren’t as sophisticated as similar government-funded ones, the sheer scale of its data collection makes its forecasts far more accurate. Recent funding is being put towards further extending its network and developing its data services.

Freddie headshot

Freddie

Company Specialist

Insights

Top investors

Some candidates hear
back within 2 weeks

5% employee growth in 12 months

Company

Funding (last 2 of 4 rounds)

Aug 2022

$39.4m

LATE VC

Nov 2021

$39m

SERIES B

Total funding: $85.7m

Company benefits

  • Comprehensive health, vision, dental plan
  • Volunteering program
  • Home office stipend
  • Hybrid work schedule (for most roles)
  • Flexible time off (including World Oceans Day!)
  • A strong internal community of ocean-lovers!

Company values

  • Oceans First: We have one planet. If we have to choose between more profit or better oceans, we choose the ocean
  • Grab an Oar: We pride ourselves on being proactive, taking responsibility, and always making things better
  • Team Wins: We can only accomplish this mission together. Respect and help others, always
  • Challenge with Heart: Vocal but open to others’ ideas. Listen, discuss, and commit
  • Ship for Impact: Build for the mission, be pragmatic, and move fast. Ocean health can’t wait

Company HQ

Mission District, San Francisco, CA

Leadership

Previously Co-founded Bad Rabbit Consulting, Spoondrift and Knit Health. At Knit Health they were also CTO, and at Spoondrift they worked as a Technical Architect.

Former Assistant Professor of Oceanography at San Francisco State University. They were a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Naval Postgraduate School, and worked as an Independent Research Scientist & Principal Investigator at Theiss Research & NorthWest Research Associates.

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