Sofar Ocean jobs, judged for you, free

What they do

Sofar Ocean runs the largest privately owned network of ocean sensors in the world. Its solar-powered Spotter buoys measure waves, weather, and conditions below the surface. Sofar builds its own marine weather forecasts from that data. Wayfinder, its voyage software, recommends a route and speed for each ship. Sentrix detects activity around ports and bases by sound.

What they value

• Team Wins: respect and help others, always.
• Oceans First: between more profit and better oceans, choose the ocean.
• Ship for Impact: build for the mission, be pragmatic, and move fast.

Where they hire

Sofar is based at Pier 28 in San Francisco. Of nine open roles, three are in the Bay Area, three are remote in the US, two are in India, and one is in Copenhagen. Most roles are hybrid. Sofar sponsors visas for eligible people. Defense roles need US citizenship, and the Copenhagen role offers no visa sponsorship.

Teams and roles

Sofar says it is a team of about 100. Most open roles support Wayfinder customers or sell to the US government. The board lists no software engineering roles now.

• Routing: routing specialists give ship routing support and do operational tasks for data products. One role is in India, works overnight shifts, and serves Japanese clients. The other is remote in the US.
• Voyage analysis: a voyage analyst on the Wayfinder product team writes voyage performance reports and supports customer claims. People in India, the Philippines, Singapore, Denmark, and Bulgaria can apply. The role needs two hours of overlap with US Pacific working hours.
• Customer success: a senior manager in Copenhagen owns Wayfinder accounts across EMEA. A defense lead trains defense users of Spotter and runs Sofar's part in military exercises.
• Engineering: a principal scientist sets the technical direction for underwater acoustics. A senior mechanical engineer designs hardware for harsh marine conditions, from CAD to production.
• Federal growth: a lead for capture, government affairs, and partnerships across US defense and civilian agencies.
• People: the first in-house sourcing lead.

What they look for

Routing roles ask for a degree in oceanography, climatology, or geography, and experience with ship routing or weather routing. They also ask for knowledge of forecast data such as WaveWatch III, HYCOM, and ECMWF, and for weekend rotations. The voyage analyst needs three years or more in shipping analysis and knowledge of charter party performance clauses. The routing and voyage postings name tools such as Retool and Notion. Most postings name a passion for the ocean.

Defense and federal roles ask for five years or more of work with the US federal government, US citizenship, and a Secret clearance now or in the past. The mechanical engineer needs five years or more of hardware design and strong 3D CAD skills.

Sofar asks candidates to write their own first draft of an application and to do take-home assessments without AI unless told otherwise. In live interviews, Sofar wants to see how a candidate thinks in real time. Sofar tells people who do not meet every requirement to apply.