Sofar Ocean

Sofar Ocean

Principal Scientist — Marine Acoustics

San Francisco · Principal

H1B sponsorship available$137k-$185kDetected 15 days ago
AlgorithmsMachine LearningLLMsProduct ManagementProduct StrategyExcelElectrical EngineeringHardware DesignSignal ProcessingResearchCommunication

About the role

  • We are expanding our sensing and intelligence capabilities into underwater acoustics and looking for a world-class expert in ocean acoustics to set the technical product vision for Sofar's underwater acoustics platform.

Responsibilities

  • Develop capabilities to detect, classify, localize, and track acoustic sources and targets using passive and/or active techniques.
  • Drive AI/ML model development for edge-based and cloud-based acoustic intelligence models.
  • Advance methods for mapping and characterizing the ocean soundscape-including ambient noise fields, acoustic propagation conditions (e.g., sound-speed structure and transmission loss), and the oceanographic and geoacoustic context that drives them.
  • Provide an acoustics-centric perspective on sensing system design-including hydrophone/array selection, calibration, and geometry-as well as deployment strategy, data quality, and performance validation.
  • Collaborate with Sofar's ocean and sensing scientists, hardware and software engineers, to translate acoustics domain expertise into operational products.
  • Design and conduct field experiments, at-sea data collection, data analyses, and modeling and simulation studies (including propagation and detection-performance modeling) to evaluate acoustic system performance under realistic ocean conditions.
  • Applying: Write your own first draft - we want to hear your voice and understand your real experience.
  • Take-home assessments: Complete these on your own unless we've explicitly said otherwise.

Requirements

  • Deep expertise in underwater acoustics
  • Strong understanding of marine acoustic propagation, ambient noise, signal processing, and the practical constraints of ocean sensing in the real world
  • Experience working with real-world acoustic datasets, field deployments, and/or operational sensing systems
  • Experience translating scientific research into operational products or customer-facing capabilities
  • Enthusiasm and experience in leveraging LLMs to magnify personal impact
  • Familiarity with embedded sensing systems, firmware constraints, or edge processing for acoustic applications
  • Familiarity with the constraints of autonomous ocean platforms, including limited power, bandwidth, onboard compute, sensor calibration, and long-duration deployments.
  • Practical experience developing acoustic sensing systems or algorithms for detection, classification, localization, mapping, or environmental characterization
  • Experience applying statistical signal processing, machine learning, or modern AI methods to acoustic detection, classification, or environmental inference.
  • Excellent communication skills, and you excel working in a cross-functional team
  • Ph.D. in acoustics, ocean engineering, electrical engineering, applied physics, oceanography, or a related field, but we will consider highly qualified candidates of any education level with equivalent experience
  • Strong reputation within the ocean acoustics community, with experience leading externally funded research programs or strategic technical partnerships.
  • Comfort working in production codebases when necessary to personally deliver changes.
  • $137,000 - $185,000

Benefits

  • Lead Sofar's underwater acoustics strategy, defining the technical vision for an underwater acoustics platform that supports real-world marine applications.
  • 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.

Company info

  • Represent Sofar externally with customers, research partners, government agencies, and the broader ocean acoustics community.
  • At Sofar, we use AI tools in our day-to-day work, and we don't expect our hiring process to be any different.

Visa & Work Authorization

  • We do sponsor visas and retain an immigration lawyer to support the process.
  • While we can't guarantee sponsorship for every role or situation, if we make you an offer, we'll make every reasonable effort to make it work.
Apply directly at Sofar Ocean →Create a free account for alerts like thisView Sofar Ocean immigration profile

This listing is sourced directly from Sofar Ocean's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.