Founded in 1987 by the late David Packard, MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) is a nonprofit oceanographic research center advancing marine science and engineering to understand our changing ocean. Located in Moss Landing, California, the heart of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, MBARI offers ready access to the open ocean and deep sea. Ongoing research programs range across autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicle systems, control technologies, ocean physics, chemistry, geology, biology, ocean instrumentation, and information management. MBARI hosts approximately 200 employees, with shore facilities that include state-of-the-art science and engineering laboratories, manufacturing and electrical fabrication shops, and dock facilities for MBARI vessels.
The Division of Marine Operations manages and operates ocean-going platforms for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, including two ROV-equipped ships, small boats, moorings and a variety of submerged and surface-bound autonomous vehicles. Our work enables research in chemical, physical, and biological oceanography. The contributions of the incumbents will have a lasting impact on the ongoing mission of MBARI’s ocean research program, facilitating discoveries at the edge of technology and human exploration. If you have the interest and experience to contribute to our work, then we would be excited to have you join our team.
This particular position ensures that MBARI’s Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (AUVs) and Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs) operate in a reliable and effective manner. The incumbent assists in design, development, testing, and operation of these vehicles.
Primary responsibilities:
The incumbent will work on various tasks supporting the development and maintenance of MBARI’s fleet of autonomous underwater and surface vehicles including Dorado-class deep water AUVs, Tethys-class Long Range AUVs and Liquid Robotics WaveGliders. These tasks involve design and fabrication of mechanical vehicle parts like instrument housings, brackets, junction boxes and mechanical actuators as well as support infrastructure like vehicle carts and launch and recovery systems, utilizing a variety of processes like 3D printing, machining with mills and lathes and fabrication with hand tools.
The incumbent will also assist in the deployment of vehicles at sea locally in Monterey Bay and during expeditions all over the globe. Responsibilities during deployments include mission planning, vehicle checkouts, battery management, data offload and interacting with the ship’s crew to safely get vehicles in and out of the water.
The position requires the willingness and ability to go to sea and work offshore for up to 6 weeks at a time, about once to twice per year.
Required qualifications:
- Proficiency in using hand tools and machining equipment (mills, lathes) to fabricate equipment
- Experience with designing parts in 3D CAD systems, preferably SolidWorks
- Offshore experience or other expertise in the marine environment, deploying and recovering equipment in the water
- Ability to step up 3 feet
- Heavy lifting is required (up to 50 lbs)
- Basic computer skills (organizing files, accessing network resources, text editing)
- Excellent interpersonal, critical thinking, and communication skills
- Self-motivated and can work effectively independently and on teams
Desired qualifications:
- Basic electrical engineering skills (reading and drawing schematics, troubleshooting)
- Experience operating water craft, cranes and/or forklifts
- Welding skills
- Basic programming skills
Salary Range: $46.00-$60.00/hour
