Oceanographer

We are an ambitious climate-tech company developing innovative processes to mitigate ocean acidification and realise atmospheric CO₂ removal, also known as negative emissions. Our multidisciplinary team combines electrochemistry, mineral processing, and marine systems engineering to turn breakthrough concepts into robust pilot and industrial installations.

We are looking for an Oceanographer to strengthen the marine-science foundation of our technology and support its responsible deployment in real ocean environments.

You will study how water chemistry, currents, mixing, stratification, tides, waves, and local marine conditions affect the behaviour of our process streams and the resulting ocean response. The work connects field observations, oceanographic data, modelling, environmental monitoring, engineering design, and demonstration planning.

This is an applied role for someone who wants ocean science to inform real technical and operational decisions.

What you will do

• Characterise the physical and chemical oceanographic conditions relevant to demonstration and future deployment sites.
• Assess currents, tides, waves, stratification, turbulence, residence time, and natural variability.
• Develop field-monitoring plans for seawater chemistry, hydrodynamics, dispersion, and background conditions.
• Design sampling campaigns and select appropriate sensors, sampling locations, frequencies, and reference stations.
• Support deployment and operation of oceanographic instruments such as CTDs, current meters, profilers, buoys, and autonomous monitoring systems.
• Analyse the transport, dilution, mixing, and dispersion of process-related water streams.
• Develop or review hydrodynamic and dispersion models.
• Connect oceanographic conditions to carbonate chemistry, alkalinity distribution, CO₂ uptake, and local environmental response.
• Establish baseline datasets and distinguish project effects from natural spatial and seasonal variability.
• Translate marine data into practical recommendations for outlet design, operating conditions, monitoring, and site selection.
• Work closely with marine biologists, chemists, process engineers, permitting specialists, universities, and external modelling partners.
• Support environmental assessments, permit applications, monitoring plans, and monitoring, reporting, and verification frameworks.
• Help define the evidence required to demonstrate safe and responsible scale-up.

What we are looking for

• A degree in physical oceanography, chemical oceanography, marine science, environmental science, coastal engineering, or a related discipline.
• Strong understanding of ocean circulation, mixing, stratification, tides, waves, turbulence, and seawater properties.
• Experience with oceanographic fieldwork, environmental monitoring, marine datasets, or hydrodynamic modelling.
• Ability to work with time-series data, spatial datasets, uncertainty, and naturally variable marine systems.
• Experience with one or more of the following is highly relevant: coastal oceanography, dispersion modelling, marine outfalls, environmental impact assessment, carbonate chemistry, ocean alkalinity enhancement, offshore monitoring, or marine renewable energy.
• Familiarity with oceanographic sensors, sampling equipment, data-quality procedures, and field logistics.
• Ability to translate scientific observations into clear recommendations for engineering and operations.
• Comfortable working with engineers, scientists, regulators, vessel operators, and external research partners.
• Hands-on mindset: you are willing to prepare instruments, join field campaigns, inspect data quality, and troubleshoot monitoring systems.
• Scientifically rigorous and environmentally responsible: you can support promising technology while remaining critical about assumptions, impacts, uncertainty, and evidence.

Your profile

You are an oceanographer who enjoys connecting marine science to real decisions. You can analyse a current profile, challenge the assumptions in a dispersion model, prepare a field campaign, inspect sensor drift, and explain to the engineering team what local hydrodynamics mean for system operation.

You understand that the ocean is dynamic, heterogeneous, and rarely impressed by simplified assumptions. You therefore combine models with measurements and remain careful about the difference between expected behaviour and demonstrated behaviour.

You are comfortable in front of a dataset, on a vessel, in a technical meeting, and during a field deployment. You bring calm judgement, scientific discipline, and a practical understanding of how marine work is actually executed.

Why join Ocean Ionics

• Work on a major climate challenge with direct relevance to ocean health.
• Help define how ocean-based CO₂ removal can be demonstrated and scaled responsibly.
• Combine field oceanography, modelling, environmental monitoring, and engineering.
• Join a multidisciplinary team working across electrochemistry, process technology, marine systems, geology, and ecology.
• Build the marine evidence base for Project Alkalion and future commercial deployment.

Location

Netherlands / Spain / hybrid to be defined, with travel and fieldwork expected for site surveys, vessel campaigns, partners, testing, and demonstration activities.

How to apply

Apply through our contact page with your CV and a short note explaining why this role fits you. We are especially interested in examples where you designed field campaigns, analysed marine systems, developed or reviewed dispersion models, or translated oceanographic data into practical project decisions.