Sofar is on a mission to connect the world’s oceans. We design, build, and deploy the largest privately owned network of marine weather sensors to power the world’s best marine weather forecasts. Our data helps our customers to increase efficiency and reduce emissions, delivering tools to governments and other stakeholders to understand impacts of climate change on extreme weather and ocean health. We live on Planet Ocean, and our goal is to create the ocean intelligence needed to ensure a sustainable future.
The Role
We are looking for a Software Engineering Manager to join our team as we scale our ocean data platform and the applications it supports.
You’ll be managing both the software engineers and physical scientists working together to make the wave and atmospheric forecasts that power Sofar. Your team will be responsible for maintaining an available, reliable weather service that delivers the best wave forecasts in the world. Your team is also responsible for pushing forward the edge of what’s possible in marine weather prediction, creating new data sets like wind and current forecasts, and improving existing ones through scientific discovery and experimentation.
You’ll grow a deep understanding of the data we collect and the wide variety of use cases it supports – from simple query and retrieve interfaces to powerful infrastructure for next-generation weather modeling pipelines. You will collaborate with a top-notch team of engineers, physical scientists, and product designers to translate user needs into robust infrastructure and systems that empower our users with the ocean data they need.
This role calls for a capable technical leader and people manager. You’ll be responsible for guiding technology selection and architectural decisions in data pipelines and modeling infrastructure, as well as hiring and retaining talented engineers.
About you
- Passionate about building a product with a positive impact on the world
- 3+ years experience as an Engineering Manager, responsible for people management and feature delivery on a technical team
- A solid communicator who enjoys collaborating with other engineers, PMs, and scientists
- A considerate technical leader who can evaluate the tradeoffs between various engineering approaches and guide the team towards the best choice
- Strong knowledge of modern data-intensive applications and the cloud technologies that support them
- Experience hiring for and leading teams at a fast-growing startup is a major plus
- PhD in a physical sciences field, preferably weather or ocean related
Bonus
- Time working as a scientist in industry or government.
Estimated Salary Range
- $180,000 - $220,000
- The range listed is what we reasonably expect to pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and may be modified in the future. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, experience, and equity package.
Sofar's Commitment to Climate Justice
We at Sofar Ocean acknowledge that careers in the marine sciences “... have traditionally been, and remain, non-diverse work environments”, thereby limiting the entry and prosperity of underrepresented groups in the space. (Johri et al., 2021) Many of these same groups are disproportionately affected by climate change, and are often excluded from decision making that directly address their interests and needs.
We are committed to addressing these climate injustices and highly encourage people who identify as women, LGBTQ+, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) to apply.
It is the responsibility of every employee to contribute to a positive work environment through cooperative and professional interactions with co-workers, customers, and vendors.
Equal Employment Opportunity
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other factors prohibited by law.
Top Skills
What We Do
Sofar connects the world's oceans to power a more sustainable future. Sofar unlocks ocean data at scale. We deployed hundreds of Spotters globally to create the world’s largest privately-owned network of ocean sensors that collects 1.5 million real-time observations daily. Our team of ocean scientists assimilates this real-time data into our marine weather forecasts, which are up to 50% more accurate than traditional models.
In maritime shipping, we use these high-accuracy forecasts and vessel performance models to provide optimized guidance and save ships time, fuel, and emissions. We also equip researchers, operators, and innovators with our devices and data to power marine research and sustainable commercial solutions. Customers access data from our global sensor network and deploy our extensible Spotter platform to collect real-time surface and subsurface observations.
Sofar’s team of engineers, ocean scientists, and business professionals is based in San Francisco, California.
