Principal Scientist — Marine Acoustics

The Role

Sofar designs, builds, and deploys ocean sensing networks at a global scale that provide unique observational knowledge of the ocean environment. We are expanding our sensing capabilities into underwater acoustics to detect, classify, and locate underwater objects, and to create an acoustic map of the marine environment. We are looking for a world expert in ocean acoustics to set the research and development vision for Sofar's underwater acoustics platform.

Lead Sofar's acoustics research and development strategy, defining the scientific vision for an underwater acoustics platform that supports real-world marine applications

Develop capabilities to detect, classify, and localize underwater objects using passive and/or active acoustic sensing methods

Advance methods for creating acoustic maps of the marine environment, including characterization of ambient soundscapes, propagation conditions, and relevant oceanographic context

Provide an acoustics-centric perspective on sensing system design, deployment strategy, data quality, and performance validation

Collaborate with Sofar's oceanic and sensing scientists, software engineers, and firmware teams to translate acoustic research into operational products

Coordinate and conduct field experiments, data analyses, and simulation studies to evaluate acoustic system performance in real-world ocean conditions

Bring deep expertise in marine acoustics to complement Sofar's ocean science, sensing, and forecasting teams

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

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

Deep expertise in underwater acoustics

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

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

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

$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.

At Sofar, we use AI tools in our day-to-day work, and we don't expect our hiring process to be any different. Here's how we think about it:

Applying: Write your own first draft — we want to hear your voice and understand your real experience. AI is fine for refining and polishing, not for generating your story.

Take-home assessments: Complete these on your own unless we've explicitly said…