Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s engineering department is offering rare opportunities to collaborate with leading ocean researchers in shaping the future of ocean technology at our state-of-the-art facilities in Moss Landing, CA. Successful recruits will join motivated, multi-disciplinary teams to advance the field of ocean science through the design, manufacturing, and support of new ocean observing assets, including vehicles, instruments, energy systems, data systems and more.

Reporting to the Electrical Engineering Group Lead, this position has responsibilities that will be spread over two main activities. The first activity is being a pilot and engineer responsible for MBARI’s 1500 m fly-away remotely operated vehicle (ROV) known as the MiniROV. This includes the maintenance and troubleshooting of the electrical and software systems, as well as the integration of new instrumentation and advanced algorithms onto the ROV in collaboration with science and engineering teams. Additionally, this position will be part of a team accompanying the vehicle on expeditions both locally and globally in support of oceanography research. Responsibilities include research cruise planning and preparation, shipboard integration, ROV piloting, and ensuring safe deck operations on the ship. It is expected that duties related to the MiniROV will occupy approximately 50% of the workload. The remainder of the time will be spent supporting other technical development efforts as an engineer, or associate engineer, based on skill level and experience. Responsibilities for this portion of the job include the design, development, and integration of electrical and/or software systems for a wide range of ocean-going instruments, sensors, and platforms.

Requirements:

• Experience with piloting and maintenance of ROVs (> 100 hours piloting preferred)
• A skill set and previous experience in an engineering discipline, either in Software Engineering or Electrical Engineering
• Experience with software development and troubleshooting
• Experience with electronics, including understanding schematics and troubleshooting electrical systems
• The ability to go to sea for specified periods of time
• Ability to work independently and within multidisciplinary groups
• Ability to develop a concept through design, fabrication, and testing

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with LabView Programming
• Experience with fiber-optic communications
• Experience with any of the following is also a plus:
  • Serial communications (RS-232, RS-485, SPI, I2C)
  • TCP/IP networking concepts
  • Instrumentation/measurements
  • Video broadcast equipmen