Supplier Industrialization Engineer, Fabrication

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.

This role requires an engineer's technical mindset paired with excellent communication skills and strong supplier management expertise. As a Supplier Industrialization Engineer, you will own the critical bridge between early product designs and external manufacturing reality at third party vendors, specifically for steel fabrication including welding and machining. This encompasses everything from early supplier sourcing assessments, to industrialization and quality control activities. As Panthalassa scales, you will lead the transition of components from low-volume production to high-volume production suppliers.

If you are an excellent engineer, regardless of your background, we want you to apply.

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. We strive to be the best engineering team on the planet and we compensate our team accordingly.

Responsibilities

• Technical Sourcing & Evaluation: Analyze new engineering designs, CAD models, and blueprints at early stages to determine appropriate manufacturing sources based on part complexity, material requirements, and vendor technical capabilities.
• Design for Manufacturing (DFM): Support Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles during early product development, providing valuable feedback to design teams.
• Supplier Capability Auditing: Conduct onsite supplier audits and provide assessment for sourcing decisions, developing new suppliers to meet Panthalassa’s product needs. 
• Technical Interface & Change Management: Act as the primary technical point of contact for suppliers including sharing release packages, bill of materials, and communicating change orders. 
• Supplier Relationship Management (SRM): Build long-term, high-trust partnerships with key contract manufacturers (CMs), steel fabricators, machining and casting suppliers. Ensure Statement of Work (SOW) alignment with project requirements, actively manage partner milestone completion, and drive continuous improvement in quality, cost, and lead times.
• Supplier Performance Management: Manage and enhance production and product quality. Guide suppliers in developing robust processes and procedures for efficient, high-quality product manufacturing.

Required Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in Technical Sourcing, Supply Chain Engineering, Global Sourcing, or Manufacturing Engineering.
• Deep blueprint & GD&T literacy: Proven ability to read and interpret complex engineering drawings, machining requirements, and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing.
• Core Manufacturing Process Expertise: Deep familiarity with the manufacturing constraints, lead times, and sourcing strategies for machining, welding, and large forgings/castings.
• Technical supplier vetting experience: Comfort auditing a vendor's shop floor capabilities (e.g., machining envelopes, weld automation, non-destructive testing/NDT limits) against a part's geometric requirements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills 
• Self-motivated and capable of working independently.

Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Welding Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering or a related technical discipline.
• Experience using CAD tools to review designs, pull dimensional data, or suggest DFM modifications.
• Experience managing overseas suppliers (e.g., tracking material authenticity, international tariffs, working with time zone differences, and managing long-lead logistics).

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 supplier and manufacturing locations as needed, potentially up to 35-40% of time, and may include international travel. 
• 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 $110,000 - $160,000.
• 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

We strongly prefer this role to be based in person at our Portland, Oregon office, but we will consider exceptional remote candidates. This position requires approximately 35-40% travel; remote candidates should expect closer to 50% to account for regular onsite visits to our offices.