Senior Power Infrastructure Engineer

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.

Panthalassa is expanding across multiple sites to support manufacturing, testing, and land-based compute payloads for qualification and testing. That means developing sites from greenfield with no existing power, or scaling an initial 0.5 - 1.5 MW supply to 2 MW, then 10 MW, 30 MW, or more-often on timelines shorter than utilities typically deliver.

Getting power is now one of the main factors in where and when we can operate.

As our Senior Power Infrastructure Engineer, you will own the path to power for every site. You’ll work directly with PGE, Pacific Power, and public utility districts across the Pacific Northwest to secure new and upgraded service. You’ll build credible load forecasts, find faster paths when utility timelines don’t fit, and give leadership the information to make site and capital decisions with confidence. You’ll be the person across the table from the utility and the person in the room when executives decide where to build.

This role is focused on utility service and site-level power, not equipment installation or in-plant electrical work. Once new service is energized, our Senior Facilities Electrical Engineer takes ownership of the distribution system inside the building.

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

• Own Panthalassa’s relationships with electric utilities and serve as the primary technical and commercial point of contact for load requests, studies, service agreements, cost allocation, schedules, and energization.
• Lead service upgrades and new service connections from initial capacity inquiry through energization, including customer-owned medium-voltage equipment and substations where needed.
• Build phased site-level load forecasts with compute, manufacturing, testing, and operations teams, using measured demand data from Facilities and plans that are still changing.
• Develop and compare paths to power, weighing capacity, cost, lead time, risk, and future growth. Include interim options such as temporary generation, mobile substations, and energy storage when utility timelines don’t fit.
• Assess power availability for prospective sites during site selection and due diligence, including utility capacity, upgrade requirements, likely cost, and realistic timelines.
• Review utility proposals, studies, agreements, rate schedules, and cost estimates. Push back where terms, scope, or timelines don’t serve Panthalassa.
• Define scope and requirements for major service upgrades, and direct engineers of record, landlords, and contractors through design and delivery.
• Track power availability, utility commitments, equipment lead times, and key decisions across all sites and prospective properties.
• Present power options, risks, and recommendations to executives and finance so they can make timely site and capital decisions.

Required Qualifications

• A degree in electrical engineering or a related field, or equivalent experience delivering utility-scale or large commercial/industrial power infrastructure.
• Personally led at least one utility service upgrade or new service connection of roughly 5 MW or more, from initial request through energization.
• Direct experience working with utility engineering and account teams on load studies, service or line extension agreements, cost allocation, and schedules.
• Working knowledge of medium-voltage service, utility transformers, switchgear, metering, and the interface between utility infrastructure and customer-owned equipment.
• Ability to build and defend load forecasts when equipment plans, operating profiles, and future uses are still changing.
• Experience presenting technical options and tradeoffs on cost, schedule, and risk to executives, finance, or other non-electrical decision-makers.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience developing greenfield sites or upgrading existing service, then scaling power capacity from no supply or an initial 0.5-1.5 MW to 2 - 100 MW scale.
• Experience at or with an electric utility, for example in key accounts, distribution planning, or large-load interconnection.
• Experience with data centers, semiconductor fabs, or other power-intensive industrial sites.
• Experience with interim or bridge power, such as temporary generation, mobile substations, or battery storage.
• Experience supporting site selection or due diligence across a portfolio of properties.
• Familiarity with utility tariffs, rate schedules, and large-load requirements in the Pacific Northwest.
• Professional Engineer licensure.

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 $175,000 - $225,000.
• 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 is an on-site position. Our offices, lab, and shop are located in Portland, Oregon.