Program Development Intern Jobs in Portland, OR (NOW HIRING)

About the Company

The open ocean is Earth's largest and most power-dense renewable energy resource. Panthalassa is harnessing that resource to generate the cheapest energy on the planet. Our mission is to provide abundant and affordable clean energy for everyone.

Founded in 2016 and based in the Pacific Northwest, our team comes from diverse backgrounds in aerospace, naval architecture, marine operations, hardware, software, and research.

About the Internship

Our core technology is the node, a device that produces energy in the ocean's harshest conditions for years at a time without human maintenance or intervention.

As a Manufacturing Process Development Intern, you will help improve the way Panthalassa builds Nodes by observing the first integration and outfitting of a new series and turning real-world lessons into better procedures. Every workplan you review will be making first contact with reality. Your job is to identify where procedures succeed, where they fail, and what should change before the next build.

You will spend part of the internship embedded with the integration team, working alongside engineers and technicians as they install and test systems. Later, you will take ownership of a set of workplans, audit their execution, rewrite them based on lessons learned, and help establish the standards future teams use to plan and execute manufacturing work.

What You'll Do

• Support system integration and outfitting of the first Node in a new series by observing execution and capturing lessons learned.
• Shadow engineers and technicians as they execute installation and test procedures, identify workplan gaps, and elevate issues for resolution.
• Participate in daily status briefs and lessons-learned reviews throughout the integration phase.
• Audit your assigned workplans, debrief execution with the responsible engineers, capture feedback, and rewrite procedures so the next build runs cleaner.
• Present findings on systemic workplan issues to the Vice President of Manufacturing, with concrete proposals for how Panthalassa should write better workplans going forward.
• Co-author the Panthalassa Workplan Design Guide with the rest of the cohort. This document sets the standard for how new engineers write and review workplans across the company.
• Help shape the procedure package for a future Node build by translating first-contact learnings into draft workplans, working alongside the design team.
• Optional stretch: develop manufacturing workplans for our new steel production equipment if you finish your audit work ahead of schedule.

Required Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a degree in industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, electrical engineering, or a relevant related field. Minimum two years of coursework completed.
• Comfortable writing technical procedures, work instructions, or test plans.
• Working familiarity with CAD tools such as SolidWorks or NX.
• Solid grasp of mechanical and electrical fundamentals.
• Data analysis skills in Python, Excel, or equivalent. You should be able to spot patterns in workplan defects and present them quantitatively.
• Strong written and verbal communication. You will need to extract useful information from engineers who are busy and do not always have time to help. The ability to push for answers without losing trust is essential.
• High agency. You will own ambiguous work, decide what to do next, and follow through without close supervision.
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on shop floor, assembly, or fabrication experience.
• Familiarity with manufacturing systems such as product lifecycle management (PLM) or manufacturing execution systems (MES).
• Exposure to geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), mechanical drawings, or wiring diagrams.
• Experience presenting technical work to senior leadership or external reviewers.
• Familiarity with root cause analysis and structured problem solving.

What You'll Gain

• Hands-on shop floor, assembly, or fabrication experience.
• Familiarity with manufacturing systems such as product lifecycle management (PLM) or manufacturing execution systems (MES).
• Exposure to geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), mechanical drawings, or wiring diagrams.
• Experience presenting technical work to senior leadership or external reviewers.
• Familiarity with root cause analysis and structured problem solving.

Location and Logistics

• Location: Split time between our main office in Portland, OR and our outfitting site in Vancouver, WA. Approximately one month at the outfitting site during integration, the remainder at the main office.
• Duration: August 31 to December 11, 2026. Federal holidays observed.
• Schedule: Up to 50 hours per week during September integration. 40 hours per week through the remainder of the program. On-site.

Compensation and Benefits 

• Cash Compensation: $30.00 - $38.00 per hour 
• As a paid intern, you will not be eligible for Company-sponsored benefits. You will accrue paid sick time in accordance with Oregon Law. You will also be paid for any holidays that occur during your internship.

This is a short-term 2-week posting, and we will be accepting applications until end of day Monday, June 22nd 2026 . Please ensure your application is submitted by this date as we will not be accepting late applications. We will begin reviewing submissions after the posting closes.