Technical Owner Naval (Naval Architect)

Company: SolarDuck

Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands

About Us: SolarDuck is a Dutch-Norwegian cleantech company bringing to market world‑class Offshore Floating Solar solutions. The company aims to pioneer sustainable offshore energy solutions and save 50 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2040, by implementing its energy solutions on the planet’s oceans.

Join Us: Are you a dynamic, impact‑driven Naval Architect eager to explore new solutions and thrive in a fast‑paced, innovative environment? Do you have the leadership and expertise to help scale our solutions to save 50 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2040? If so, we want to hear from you.

The Role: As Technical Owner Naval, you are responsible for the naval performance of our offshore floating platform. In more common market terms, this role sits at the intersection of naval architecture, hydrodynamics, floating offshore systems, mooring interfaces, umbilical integration, and model testing.

You will own the naval engineering scope, including hydrodynamic behaviour, intact and damaged stability, mooring and station‑keeping interfaces, umbilical system integration, and hydrodynamic model testing.

This is not a narrow calculation role. You will combine hands‑on engineering judgement with technical ownership, internal coordination, external partner direction, and review of specialist engineering work. You will work with internal Technical Owners, the Project Manager Engineering, the Procurement Lead, the CTO, Hydrodynamic Engineers, and external partners such as naval architecture firms, hydrodynamic engineering partners, maritime research institutes, classification and certification bodies, mooring contractors, and umbilical suppliers.

You act as the internal discipline owner and maintain design control over naval engineering. Your role is to make sure that naval decisions are technically sound, efficiently verified, clearly communicated, and integrated into the wider system architecture.

• Provide naval engineering input to feasibility studies, concept design, basic design, and detailed design activities.


• Provide naval input to the Basis of Design, system requirements, interface register, and certification reporting.


• Act as the naval engineering interface across hull design, hydrodynamics, mooring, umbilical, installation, power systems, operations, system integration, external engineering firms, and suppliers.


• Represent SolarDuck in technical discussions with clients and their naval, hydrodynamic, and offshore engineering experts within the naval scope.


• Provide technical guidance, coaching, review, and on‑the‑job training to Hydrodynamic Engineers working within the naval scope.


• Define and approve naval engineering input to Design Load Cases (DLCs), including stability criteria, mooring assumptions, hydrodynamic conditions, and analysis boundaries.


• Verify floating platform behaviour through stability analysis, hydrodynamic modelling, scaled model testing where applicable, and interpretation of results.


• Provide technical input to design trade‑offs where naval performance affects cost, manufacturability, installation, certification, commercial feasibility, or platform configuration.


• Lead the technical scope of the umbilical system, with input from Mechanical & Structural, Operations, and Power & Digital Systems.


• Manage the technical execution of external naval, hydrodynamic, mooring, umbilical, and model testing scopes, including task‑level planning, technical follow‑up, interface alignment, and technical acceptance or rejection of supplier outputs within the naval scope.


• Develop and maintain internal naval analysis tools, methods, scripts, and verification workflows to improve design speed and quality.


• Manage naval risks, assumptions, opportunities, design changes, and open technical decisions.


• Escalate fundamental trade‑offs or infeasible design outcomes with clear options, consequences, and recommendations.

• A bachelor’s or master’s degree in Naval Architecture, Offshore Engineering, Marine Technology, or a closely related discipline.


• 5 or more years of relevant experience in naval architecture, offshore structures, floating structures, or hydrodynamic engineering.


• Strong understanding of floating offshore structures, hydrodynamic principles, intact and damaged stability, mooring, station keeping, and ULS, FLS, ALS, and SLS type analyses.


• Experience defining or reviewing naval engineering assumptions, analysis boundaries, verification methods, and Design Load Case inputs.


• Experience with OrcaFlex, OrcaWave, or similar hydrodynamic and offshore engineering tools.


• Experience with Python scripting for analysis, automation, data handling, postprocessing or model verification.


• Experience with model testing, scaled prototype testing, or interpretation of test results.


• Experience coordinating external engineering scopes, including technical planning, interface alignment, progress follow‑up, deliverable review, and escalation of risks or open decisions.


• Experience providing technical guidance, review, coaching, or mentoring to engineers within a naval, hydrodynamic, offshore, or floating‑structures engineering scope.


• The ability to review and challenge internal and external engineering work and translate technical findings into clear decisions, risks, recommendations, and design inputs.


• The ability to contribute to technical discussions with clients and their technical experts within the naval scope.

• The opportunity to work on sustainable offshore energy systems at an early and impactful stage, with engineering work that directly contributes to safe, reliable, and scalable offshore solutions.


• Close collaboration with experienced internal engineers, Technical Owners, Hydrodynamic Engineers, and external naval, hydrodynamic, mooring, umbilical, and model testing specialists.


• Room to take ownership, challenge assumptions, shape internal methods, and grow SolarDuck’s naval engineering capability.


• A competitive salary package aligned with your experience, level, and the responsibilities of the role.


• Attractive and flexible employment conditions, including flexible working hours and a hybrid working arrangement to support a healthy work‑life balance.


• Regular team moments, including Wednesday lunches, sustainability days, weekly stand‑ups, and a memorable Christmas party.


• An ambitious and fast‑moving work environment where curiosity, impact, speed, and trust are part of how we work together.

At SolarDuck, we value diversity and inclusivity, and we encourage all qualified candidates to apply.