Makai Employment Opportunities

Job Opportunities at Makai

Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc. was established in 1973 as a diversified ocean engineering and naval architecture company providing service primarily in Hawaii and the Pacific. In Makai’s early years, we took a technical lead in a number of innovative projects that helped develop a unique set of skills and expertise. Deep water pipeline design for energy applications, marine vehicles and deep water cable installation software development were some of those projects.

Today Makai’s services have greatly expanded, and we are more global in nature. Our clients are found throughout the world. Makai has developed a broad spectrum of engineering expertise and provides services in research and development, design, construction engineering support, construction management, testing, and systems analysis, cable lay planning, analysis and support and other diverse operations in the marine field. Makai takes pride in providing innovative award winning design solutions to complex ocean engineering challenges. Our personnel have extensive engineering, software development and technical backgrounds and are experienced in working on new and unique projects and in the preparation of comprehensive design documentation, specifications, cost estimates, engineering reports and presentations.

In the last two years Makai has formed a partnership with Lockheed Martin Corporation on the development of the first commercial sized OTEC plant. This is a huge, demanding and exciting sustainable energy project that could have a major near term impact on energy production in remote islands such as Hawaii and other islands in the Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Oceans. We are actively seeking talented engineers to join our team in this endeavor and on others as listed below.

We are looking for outstanding people for the following positions:

Our office is on Makai Pier in gorgeous Waimanalo, Hawaii, featured in National Geographic Magazine.

Overhead view of Makai Pier from the cliffs of Makapuu.

Sunrise of Makapuu Point as seen from Makai Pier.

Makai employees - Oct. 2008

Software Programmer:

Storm Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc is seeking applicants for a software programming position available immediately. We have a small group developing advanced 4D/5D scientific visualization software (see this link) with commercial and DoD applications. This is a great opportunity for applicants to be part of a visualization group developing a large scale real world software application. Makai offers a flexible work schedule and a relaxed atmosphere at our office on Makai Pier near scenic Makapu'u Point on O'ahu, Hawai'i. The software programming position is a long-term full-time position (40 hrs/week) with full benefits.

Requirements:
    -Strong Knowledge of C++ programming and Object-Oriented design priciples
    -Experience with computer graphics algorithms and data structures
    -Scientific Visualization
    -3D graphics, OpenGL/GLSL
    -Cross-platform & Qt GUI toolkit development (Windows and Linux)
    -Strong written and oral communication skills

An ideal candidate would also have experience in several of these following areas:
    -OpenSceneGraph (OSG)
    -Python Scripting language
    -GIS programming experience
    -CMake, make, and/or Visual Studio
    -Familiarity with NetCDF & HDF5 file formats

Salary range: Negotiable

Please send a cover letter and resume to Dr. Jose Andres at Jose.Andres@makai.com. Your cover letter should discuss your experience and training relevant to this position.

Technical Writing/Documentation/Editing/Proofreading/Computer Support:

Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc has a Technical Writing entry level support position open which consists of 80% time technical writing, documentation, editing, proofreading and 20% time computer workstation support.

Makai Ocean Engineering is a small, but growing, technical firm who specializes in the design of large ocean pipelines for renewable energy sources, the development of software for planning and installing fiber optic submarine cables, and the development of advanced 4D/5D software for use with scientific data. All of Makai’s employees have technical backgrounds and many have advanced scientific degrees. We are looking for someone who is a team player and is comfortable working with engineers and scientists to produce scientific reports, proposals, software manuals and product literature. In addition, the candidate should have basic troubleshooting skills for PC workstations. Due to the nature of the business and the small size of Makai, the candidate should have excellent time management skills, be able to multi-task and wear multiple hats when needed.

You will be working with engineers and business managers to proof and edit documents for grammar, insert images, correct/manipulate formatting (knowledge of MS Word styles is essential), spell-check and print or submit proposals to the appropriate agencies. Secondarily, you will be creating technical manuals which describe the operation of our software. Technical objectives will be to learn the software, take screen captures, and write a manual with tutorials on how to use the software. Tutorials may include videos with narration. Other tasks may include marketing material such as press releases, brochures, posters, CD ROM disks, and web sites. Candidates are required to have a technical degree and experience in writing scientific documents.

The computer support involves providing hands-on "help desk" computer and network support for Makai employees on a daily basis. Support issues include printer troubleshooting, network file shares, local driver issues, installation of new software, and general administration of usernames/passwords. Support also involves the installation and setup of new workstations. The candidate should be comfortable with computers and troubleshooting problems. For example, if a user cannot print to a network printer, what would be the steps to take to figure out the problem? If a user cannot login to the workstation, what actions need to be taken? You should be able to open a computer and describe all the parts and their purpose (A+ certification is a plus).

Responsibilities of this position:
    -Editing and proofreading scientific proposals and reports
    -The creation of software manuals
    -The creation of product literature and press releases
    -Providing daily support for PC workstations

The candidate should have solid verbal and written communication skills and the following qualifications:
    -Excellent proficiency with Word
        -Proficiency with styles
        -How to insert and modify images and captions
        -How to create custom numbered lists
        -How to create dynamic table of contents
        -How to link to external documents
    -Proficiency with Excel
        -Formatting tables
        -Creation of formulas
        -Know the difference between absolute and relative references
        -Creation of charts and graphs
        -VBA experience a plus
    -Proficiency with CorelDraw and Photoshop (or similar)
        -Create vector-based drawings from hand drawn sketches
        -Modify images for publication in literature and web
        -Taking screen captures for manual creation
    -Proficiency with computers
        -Windows XP and Vista OS
        -Configuring network printers and shares
        -Installing operating systems
        -Ability to troubleshoot viruses and malware
        -A+ Certification a plus
        -Ability to obtain a secrete clearance a plus

The candidate will maintain a high level of professionalism and bring a positive attitude to Makai's drug free work place. The candidate will become part of Makai’s business operations and development team and will report to the Operations Coordinator. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen and willing to obtain a Security Clearance. Please send cover letter and resume to Dr. Michael Nedbal (michael.nedbal@makai.com). Your cover letter should discuss your experience and training relevant to this position and why you want to work at Makai.

Graduate Ocean/Mechanical Engineer:

Makai’s design group is always interested in receiving resumes from talented and fast-learning graduate ocean and/or mechanical engineers to fill new or vacant positions as they become available. These positions are generally in Makai’s design group which has major project responsibilities in design of a floating Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plant and in design of Seawater Air Conditioning (SWAC) systems in selected locations around the world. Within the group, OTEC Design responsibilities include design of large diameter pipe handling equipment, heat exchanger design, OTEC plant configuration design and overall system analysis. SWAC design responsibilities include overall project development, pipeline and environmental loading design analysis, detailed mechanical design tasks and construction management duties.

The qualifications that Makai values highly in candidate engineers include:

Solid academic background with a high grade point average,
Some diversity in engineering skills; for example, a candidate with a mechanical engineering undergraduate degree and ocean engineering graduate degree is preferred.
Evidence of some hands-on mechanical skills or aptitude.
Previous work experience that has provided exposure to some phase of engineering design, construction or project management.
Ability to think clearly and express oneself in written communication.
Ability to work independently or with minimal supervision.
A strong working knowledge of MS Office Software and common engineering analytical software such as Matlab is required.
Capability to use CAD software such as Solidworks and/or Autocad.

Candidates with many or all of the above qualifications will be most highly considered.

All of Makai’s work is in the ocean or is marine related. Therefore, ocean experience, background or interest is always a plus. Candidates should be U.S. citizens or possess a green card. Makai provides engineers with interesting and challenging projects, a competitive salary, a strong list of company benefits, and a beautiful and unique work atmosphere.
To apply for an Ocean or Mechanical Engineering position at Makai, submit the following via email to jose.andres@makai.com

Comprehensive Resume including: Overall GPA in graduate and undergraduate studies, year(s) of graduation, and country of citizenship or visa status in US.
Cover Letter highlighting how your education and experience are suited to our needs and why you want to work at Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc.

Beautiful Work Environment

Informal, Fun Attitude

Full health coverage

IRA with employer contribution

Freedom from daily traffic jams

International Travel

Excellent Pay

Innovative company

Interesting projects

Excellent Comptime Policy

IRS Section 125 "Cafeteria" Plan

Nine Annual Holidays