Technical Program Manager

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 private investment offices. We operate as an idea meritocracy in which the best ideas change the company’s direction on a regular basis.

Our staff have worked at organizations such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Boeing, Tesla, Apple, Virgin Orbit, Astra, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, New Relic, Bridgewater, Raytheon, Disney Imagineering, and the US Army and Air Force, as well as research universities, startups, and small companies across a range of industries.

About the Job

Our core technology is the node, a device that produces energy in the ocean’s harshest conditions for years at a time without human maintenance or intervention. 

We've proven we can build Nodes in small quantities. This role exists to make the path to repeatable production move faster. Manufacturing Technology defines the qualification requirements for each Node manufacturing process and owns delivery of the qualified process set. You will track readiness against those requirements — maintaining visibility into where each process stands, what evidence is still outstanding, and what is blocking it — and coordinate the cross-functional execution planning that closes the gaps. Your primary deliverable is velocity: sequencing process development work, surfacing constraints before they bite, and keeping engineering effort pointed at the qualification gates that matter most to the pilot program

This role is based at our new Pilot Manufacturing campus in Vancouver, Washington — the facility where Ocean-3 Nodes stop being drawings and start being steel. We're standing up heavy fabrication, blast and coatings, and full Node integration, which means the process development work happens feet away from the weld seams and the paint booth. You'll help build the line that builds the fleet. 

Candidates should have strong interpersonal skills and be able to thrive in a creative, scrappy, and collaborative environment in which the best ideas change the company’s direction on a regular basis.

Responsibilities

• Manage project milestone schedules for pilot manufacturing process development, ensuring clear communication of status, risks, and dependencies to internal stakeholders.
• Lead design and test sprint planning for the internal manufacturing team, balancing resource constraints and competing priorities across projects.
• Drive clear-to-build decisions, closing gaps across engineering release, material availability, tooling, and work instructions ahead of build start.
• Support the transition from development to pilot production by facilitating manufacturing readiness reviews and DFM feedback to engineering.
• Collaborate with the internal procurement team, external suppliers, and fabrication partners to ensure timely, high-quality delivery of components.
• Coordinate new equipment and tooling readiness from delivery through qualification.
• Monitor and escalate program risks, while proactively contributing to mitigation strategies.
• Develop and maintain documentation and tools that support production execution and scaling, in alignment with TPM best practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field.
• 2+ years of experience managing technical programs in a manufacturing process development environment, including direct responsibility for coordinating materials, equipment availability, and teams to support learning plan execution in a pilot production environment. 
• 5+ years working in hardware engineering or manufacturing engineering environments.
• Proven track record of leading cross-functional teams to meet aggressive program timelines.
• Direct experience working with change management systems, PLM/MES/ERP tools, and configuration control processes.
• Experience coordinating external suppliers and fabrication partners.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting to senior leadership.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic, and highly collaborative environment.
• Ability to travel as needed for site visits and partner engagements.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience across the full manufacturing lifecycle, from early development through pilot, ramp, and sustaining production.
• Experience standing up a new production line or manufacturing facility.
• Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals relevant to large welded or fabricated steel structures, with hands-on exposure to manufacturing workflows.
• Experience with hardware product development in startup or early-stage environments.

The above qualifications are desired, not required. We encourage you to apply if you are a strong candidate with only some of the desired skills and experience listed.

Additional Requirements

• Travel to vendors and test sites as needed
• Intermittently able to work longer hours and weekends to support critical needs. While we expect a lot of each other, we also offer a high degree of autonomy and work-life balance, including flexible PTO and flexible working hours.

Compensation and Benefits

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

• Cash compensation of $150,000 - $190,000.
• 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).

Location

This role is intended to be an on-site role based in our offices in Vancouver, WA.