Naval Architecture Habitability Lead

The ocean is the largest undeveloped frontier on earth — and the next chapter of abundant energy will be written at sea. We're building the infrastructure to power it.

ABOUT OCEAN ATOMICS (OA)

Ocean Atomics is an American company designing, licensing, and assembling a standardized nuclear electric power plant and the surrounding support systems for maritime applications. We will install these plants on any vessel built to our nuclear-ready standards, and will provide end-to-end sustainment in our planned nuclear lifecycle dockyard. We will help develop the licensed operators to unlock this new capability for your energy intensive application at sea. To move fast and to lead the creation of this new market, we are leveraging the compact, proven systems enabled by water-cooled reactors.

OUR MISSION

Scale nuclear energy. Power generations.

OUR VISION

A maritime commons thriving with abundant, economical, modern, and safe nuclear-powered activity — built, serviced, and staffed by re-industrialized American shipyards and people.

ROLE SUMMARY

As Habitability Lead, you lead the human factors engineering, environmental control systems, and living-space architecture for the vessels that carry Ocean Atomics' nuclear electric plant. You're responsible for how crews live and work aboard — berthing, ergonomics, and life support — from initial concept through class and flag-state approval, working closely with the Arrangements and Structures leads so crew spaces are designed for plant integration from the start. The habitability baseline you set keeps crews safe and mission-ready across long offshore deployments, and it's part of how Ocean Atomics scales nuclear energy at sea.

The ideal candidate treats crew safety as a first-order design constraint rather than a compliance afterthought, and knows how to defend habitability margins without turning class and flag reviews into box-checking.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead the spatial design, berthing layouts, and living-space architecture of crew spaces, optimizing ergonomics and endurance for extended offshore deployments.
• Design, specify, and validate the vessel's environmental control systems, including radiological HVAC filtration, internal safety airflow, and emergency life-support systems.
• Work with the Arrangements and Structures leads to protect space and weight margins so crew systems adapt cleanly to the constraints of plant integration.
• Develop modular, reproducible habitability configurations that reduce shipyard fabrication complexity and downstream assembly risk.
• Address human-system interface and life-safety issues early in the design cycle, before they become costly late-stage changes.
• Generate the human factors analyses, drawings, and environmental control schematics that clear classification society (ABS, LR, etc.) habitability notations and statutory flag state (USCG, etc.) reviews, and that support NRC-facing safety documentation.

WHAT YOU BRING

Required

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Human Factors Engineering, or related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Track record leading habitability, marine environmental control, or human factors design from concept through deployment. Typically built over 8+ years of focused work in marine habitability, shipboard HVAC/environmental control, or human factors engineering for commercial vessels, offshore platforms, or naval assets. Depth of experience, design cycles, and successful leadership of major habitability projects is valued above years of experience.
• Working command of marine life-support systems, radiological filtration design, and human-system interface standards (e.g., ASTM F1166), with a solid grasp of classification society (ABS, LR, etc.) and flag state (USCG, etc.) habitability requirements.

Preferred

• Experience with highly regulated vessel classes or habitability notations.
• Background in modular ship design or repeatable fabrication processes.
• Cross-functional experience partnering with naval architecture, arrangements, and structures teams on integrated designs.

Don't meet every bullet? We'd still like to hear from you. If you're excited by the mission and most of this resonates, apply.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Every industry on Earth needs scalable, clean energy, and the ocean is the ideal place to unlock it. Joining Ocean Atomics means building real, lasting infrastructure — the kind that powers generations. The world needs abundant energy. Let's make it happen.

OCEAN ATOMICS LLC IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

We are committed to a workplace free of discrimination and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations; if you need an accommodation during the application process, contact info@oceanatomics.com.