Principal Scientist - Underwater Acoustics

Sofar Ocean; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 137,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work

Visa sponsorship

Security clearance

Job summary

Sofar Ocean is seeking a world-class expert in underwater acoustics to lead the technical vision for our underwater acoustics platform, guiding sensing, data, and AI for ocean intelligence. You will design field experiments, develop propagation and detection models, and translate acoustics expertise into deployable products.

Preferred: Ph.D. in a related field or equivalent experience, with a strong track record of cross-functional collaboration and the ability to obtain a U.S.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in underwater acoustics.
• Experience developing acoustic sensing systems.
• Understanding of marine acoustic propagation.
• Experience with real-world datasets and field deployments.
• Experience applying ML/AI to acoustic detection.
• Excellent cross-functional communication.
• Ph.D. in relevant field or equivalent experience.
• Ability to obtain U.S. security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision for an underwater acoustics platform.
• Develop detection, localization, and mapping capabilities.
• Lead AI/ML model development for edge and cloud.
• Advance ocean soundscape mapping and propagation models.
• Collaborate with hardware, software, and science teams.
• Design and conduct field experiments and data analyses.
• Define product requirements and roadmaps for new capabilities.

Skills

Underwater acoustics

Acoustic sensing systems

Signal processing

Machine learning / AI for acoustics

Field deployments

Cross-functional collaboration

Scientific communication

Security clearance eligibility

Education

Ph.D. in acoustics/ocean engineering/oceanography/related field

Tools

MATLAB/Python

Job description

The Role

Sofar designs, builds, and deploys ocean sensing networks at a global scale to power ocean intelligence. 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

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

• 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.

• Help define product requirements, technical roadmaps, and priorities for new underwater acoustic capabilities.

• Represent Sofar externally with customers, research partners, government agencies, and the broader ocean acoustics community.

Minimum Job Qualifications

• Deep expertise in underwater acoustics

• Practical experience developing acoustic sensing systems or algorithms for detection, classification, localization, mapping, or environmental characterization

• 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 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

• Experience translating scientific research into operational products or customer-facing capabilities

• 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.

• Enthusiasm and experience in leveraging LLMs to magnify personal impact

• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance. Under U.S. law, only U.S. citizens are eligible to obtain a security clearance.

Bonus Points

• 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.

• Comfort working in production codebases when necessary to personally deliver changes.
  

Estimated Salary Range

• $137,000 - $185,000

• 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.

About Working at Sofar:

Hybrid work: We're a hands-on team building hardware and software that operates in the real world — so being together matters. We ask that most team members are in office at least 70% of the time, though some roles (like field technicians or hardware engineering) may require more. Fully remote roles are designated as such in the job posting.

Visa sponsorship: 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.