Chief Engineer - Maritime

About This Role

This chief engineer role leads the technical and engineering development of maritime systems, from design through deployment and production. It involves top-level management of technical tasks, ensuring accuracy, proper resource allocation, and quality. The role suits an innovative professional who wants to have a direct impact in enabling commercial and national security missions in frontier environments.

Responsibilities

• Act as Design Authority for the maritime scope area
• Provide technical leadership on Zeno maritime projects
• Define and interpret high-level engineering requirements to support product, program, and customer needs
• Support technical project meetings for maritime initiatives by providing real-time technical guidance, operational support, and informed decision-making
• Generate, review, and approve technical work products for design applicability, adequacy, and accuracy
• Co-chair the Change Control Board (CCB), review and approve all maritime-related design changes requiring CCB signoff
• Review and approve maritime project requirements and verification activities to ensure accuracy, completeness, and alignment with design specifications and project objectives
• Support planning, content development, execution, and close-out of maritime project design reviews
• Develop, manage, and continuously improve Design Authority owned Quality Procedures and Work Instructions under an AS9100 Quality Program
• Interface with suppliers, customers, and other external and internal stakeholders
• Oversee, review, and approve sub-contractor technical work for relevant scope areas
• Ensure Zeno maritime projects comply with applicable environmental, safety, health, radiation and contamination, and quality assurance requirements through ongoing assessment and implementation of relevant regulations, policies, and procedures
• Prepare technical briefings for customers and leadership team, and technical papers for meetings and conferences
• Be responsible for the design, development, and test of systems, life cycle support, technical goals and objectives, and requirement analysis of maritime projects

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, preferably in Mechanical, Marine, Naval Architecture, Nuclear, Systems, Electrical, Aerospace, or a related engineering discipline
• 10+ years of engineering experience in complex technical product development, maritime systems, naval platforms, offshore systems, or related industrial environments
• 5+ years of direct maritime industry experience in vessel design, marine systems engineering, shipboard operations, offshore operations, or maritime platform integration
• Experience leading or supporting design, integration, testing, commissioning, or operational deployment of maritime systems
• 3+ years serving in a technical leadership, technical authority, chief engineer, engineering management, or key technical decision-maker role
• Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary engineering teams through complex development programs, including requirements definition, design reviews, risk management, verification, validation, and operational readiness activities
• Proven experience operating within regulated and quality-controlled environments, including compliance with ISO 9001, AS9100, NQA-1, NAVSEA, or similar
• Experience developing, implementing, and continuously improving engineering processes, configuration management systems, product lifecycle processes, and technical governance frameworks
• Strong understanding of systems engineering principles, including requirements management, interface control, hazard analysis, reliability, maintainability, and verification/validation methodologies
• Experience with risk-informed technical decision-making, trade studies, root cause analysis, and failure investigation in high-consequence systems
• Must be a U.S. person (U.S citizen or U.S. national; or any natural person who is a U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident or a “protected individual” defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))

Nice to have:

• Nuclear maritime experience, including experience with naval nuclear systems, marine nuclear power generation, radiological systems, or similar
• Familiarity with manufacturing scale-up, supplier qualification, production transition, and design-for-manufacture considerations
• Experience collaborating with government customers, classification societies, defense organizations, shipyards, or regulatory agencies
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to executive leadership, customers, regulators, operators, and cross-functional teams
• Strong project execution skills, including schedule management, technical planning, budgeting support, and coordination across engineering disciplines
• Proven success operating in fast-paced development environments with a strong focus on innovation, operational considerations, safety, and regulatory compliance

Benefits

• Stock options
• Flexible paid time off
• 401k plan with employer match
• 16 weeks of paid family leave
• 11 observed company holidays
• Employer HSA contributions
• Life insurance
• Transit benefits to put toward commuting expenses
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Relocation assistance
• Professional development
• Employee recognition program
• Company-sponsored ClassPass benefit to support employee wellness
• Dog friendly office

Important Details

• Schedule: in-office presence in Seattle (South Lake Union) on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays; remote work is optional on Mondays and Fridays
• Travel: less than 10%
• Motor Abilities: Sitting and/or standing for extended periods, bending/stooping, grasping/gripping, fine motor control (hands)
• Physical exertion and/or requirements: Minimal, with ability to safely lift up to 15 pounds
• Repetitive work: Prolonged
• Special Senses: Visual and audio focused work
• Work Conditions: Stairs, typing/keyboard, standard and/or sitting working environment of more than 8 hours per day

About the Company

Zeno Power is the leading developer of nuclear batteries, providing reliable, clean energy in frontier environments by harnessing heat from radioisotopes. Zeno’s batteries power critical missions on Earth, in space, and at sea. The company aims to bring this technology to market by 2027.