Director, Strategy

About the Company

We are a renewable energy and ocean technology company committed to rapidly developing and deploying technologies that will ensure a sustainable future for Earth by unlocking the vast energy potential of its oceans. Our focus is on capturing civilizational levels of ultra-low-cost renewable energy for applications including computing and affordable renewable fuels delivered to shore.

The company is a public benefit corporation headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and backed by leading venture capitalists, philanthropic investors, university endowments, and private investment offices. We operate as an idea meritocracy in which the best ideas change the company’s direction on a regular basis.

Our staff have worked at organizations such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Boeing, Tesla, Apple, Virgin Orbit, Astra, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, New Relic, Bridgewater, Raytheon, Disney Imagineering, and the US Army and Air Force, as well as research universities, startups, and small companies across a range of industries.

About the Job

Panthalassa is raising capital, developing commercial partnerships, and entering the public stage while building a new category of clean energy and computing infrastructure. As Director, Strategy, you will help determine how we finance the company and how we describe it to the investors and partners whose support will shape its growth.

Reporting to the EVP, Strategy and working closely with the CEO, you will run much of the day-to-day work behind capital formation and investor relations: models, materials, diligence, updates, and the conversations that keep leadership and investors working from the same facts. You will also help shape and articulate the company’s views on the markets, technologies, and institutions around it, from energy and hard tech to financial markets and government.

The role calls for the analytical standards of a top investor or banker and the initiative of an operator. You can build a financing model, test one built by someone else, and write for a sophisticated audience.

This is a global role with a schedule to match. Deals span time zones and often require work at night, on weekends, or with little notice. You are expected to be available when needed and will have flexibility to manage your schedule around the work.

At first, this is primarily an individual-contributor role on a small team. As the company expands, you may hire and lead a team and take responsibility for a broader share of the strategy function.

About You

You have done demanding analytical work at a top-performing venture firm, startup, investment bank, consultancy, or comparable organization, and now want direct responsibility for building a company. You have exceptional judgment and know what it takes to bring a complex, multi-party deal to a close. We would like you to:

• Love using AI and detest obvious AI writing. You use the tools every day and edit the output until it reflects your own judgment and voice.
• Hold informed views on the technical and economic forces shaping AI, compute infrastructure, and energy, and defend them among people who know those fields well.
• Have worked across time zones and business cultures, adjusting the pace, context, and formality of your communication without sacrificing clarity.
• Move fluently among Google Docs, Excel, Figma, Airtable, and other business tools, and learn new platforms quickly. Bonus points for basic coding skills. 
• Know cap table math and NVCA documents inside and out.
• Handle sensitive information and relationships with care and discretion.

Responsibilities

• Investor Relations: Manage investor relationships between financings. Write regular updates, maintain the data room, and run diligence processes, and keep information flowing to financial partners at the appropriate cadence for each relationship.
• Capital Formation: Work with leadership to set financing strategy, round size, structure, process, and timing, then help drive each transaction from preparation through close.
• Financial Modeling: Build and own models for financings, operating scenarios, and capitalization. Test assumptions and review work produced by others.
• Writing: Produce investor letters, board materials, memos, one-pagers, and correspondence with exceptionally high standards for clarity, accuracy, and voice.
• Presentations: Develop decks that pair analytical rigor with strong visual judgment to explain complex technical, financial, and strategic plans.
• Market Intelligence: Track relevant markets, companies, investors, and public debate. Turn what you learn into views and recommendations the team can use.
• AI-Assisted Research: Use AI extensively to accelerate research and strengthen analysis. Check sources, test the reasoning, and edit the output to the standard expected of work sent under your name.
• Company Representation: Represent Panthalassa in meetings with investors and partners and at conferences and events.
• Team Development: Help recruit, manage, and develop strategy hires as the function expands.

Required Qualifications

• At least four years of relevant experience in startups, venture capital, investment banking, management consulting, or a comparable analytical environment.
• Expert command of Excel and PowerPoint, plus ease with Google Sheets, Keynote, and Figma.
• Excellent writing and a willingness to share samples.
• Fluency with financing structures, cap tables, valuation, and scenario modeling.
• Deep working knowledge of AI infrastructure and energy, including the major companies, investors, technologies, and policy debates.
• Experience working with investors, partners, or colleagues across countries and time zones.
• A record of taking responsibility for outcomes under tight deadlines, incomplete information, and high stakes.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience at a growth-stage company in technology, energy, or infrastructure.
• Experience inside a founder-led company or working closely with one as an investor or adviser.
• Experience building and managing a small team.

If the role sounds right and your experience does not map neatly to every item above, we would still like to hear from you.

Compensation and Benefits

If hired for this full-time role, you will receive:

• Cash compensation of $200,000 - $325,000, depending on experience.
• Equity in the company. We’re all owners and if we’re successful, this equity should be far and away the most valuable component of your compensation.
• A benefits package that helps you take care of yourself and your family, including:
  • Flexible paid time off
  • Health insurance (the company pays 100% of gold-level PPO plan for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents)
  • Dental insurance (the company pays 100% for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents)
  • Vision insurance (the company pays 100% for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents)
  • Disability insurance (the company pays 100% for a policy to provide long-term financial support if you become disabled)
  • Ability to contribute to tax-advantaged accounts, including 401(k), health FSA, and dependent care FSA
• Relocation assistance to facilitate your move to Portland (if needed).

Location

This is an on-site position. Our offices, lab, and shop are located in Portland, Oregon. Hybrid candidates who are willing to spend substantial time in Portland will also be considered.