What are the responsibilities and job description for the Workplace Manager position at Sofar Ocean?
Location: Pier 28 Annex, San Francisco, CA (onsite, full-time)
About Sofar Ocean
Sofar Ocean builds technology that gives the world a clearer picture of the ocean. Our Spotter buoys form one of the largest privately owned ocean sensor networks on the planet, capturing waves, weather, and subsurface data from some of the most remote stretches of open water. That data powers everything from Wayfinder, our voyage optimization software used by commercial shipping operators to cut fuel and emissions, to sensing solutions for governments, defense organizations, and ocean researchers who need live ground truth from the sea. We're a ~100-person global team working at the intersection of hardware, software, and ocean intelligence — and our San Francisco office is where a lot of the energy lives.
About The Role
We're looking for a Workplace Manager who genuinely loves making a space, and the people within it, feel great!
This is a hands-on, high-ownership role. You'll be the person who notices the thing that's off before anyone else does, fixes it before anyone asks, and still has time to make the new hire feel welcome on their first day. You'll own the physical office environment end-to-end: facilities, vendors, supplies, events, and the overall experience of being at Sofar.
We're a lean team, which means you'll operate with a lot of autonomy. We're not looking for someone who waits to be told what needs attention - we're looking for someone who's already three steps ahead!
What You'll Do
Hybrid policy: This is a fully onsite role. Our office is where the work happens, and we need someone who's there consistently and reliably from 8am to 5pm.
Compensation: We benchmark competitively and are transparent about how we think about pay. Salary range for this role is $70,000–$100,000, depending on experience.
Benefits: Health, dental, and vision coverage for employees. Equity. Flexible PTO.
Visa sponsorship: We do not sponsor visas for this role at this time.
We encourage you to apply even if you don't meet every qualification listed. Research consistently shows that underrepresented candidates are more likely to self-select out, and we don't want that. If this work sounds interesting to you, we want to hear from you.
Sofar Ocean is an equal opportunity employer. We're committed to building a team with a range of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences.
About Sofar Ocean
Sofar Ocean builds technology that gives the world a clearer picture of the ocean. Our Spotter buoys form one of the largest privately owned ocean sensor networks on the planet, capturing waves, weather, and subsurface data from some of the most remote stretches of open water. That data powers everything from Wayfinder, our voyage optimization software used by commercial shipping operators to cut fuel and emissions, to sensing solutions for governments, defense organizations, and ocean researchers who need live ground truth from the sea. We're a ~100-person global team working at the intersection of hardware, software, and ocean intelligence — and our San Francisco office is where a lot of the energy lives.
About The Role
We're looking for a Workplace Manager who genuinely loves making a space, and the people within it, feel great!
This is a hands-on, high-ownership role. You'll be the person who notices the thing that's off before anyone else does, fixes it before anyone asks, and still has time to make the new hire feel welcome on their first day. You'll own the physical office environment end-to-end: facilities, vendors, supplies, events, and the overall experience of being at Sofar.
We're a lean team, which means you'll operate with a lot of autonomy. We're not looking for someone who waits to be told what needs attention - we're looking for someone who's already three steps ahead!
What You'll Do
- Own the day-to-day operations of our SF office — from facilities and vendors to supplies, maintenance, and general upkeep
- Be the first point of contact for anything office-related, and solve most of it yourself before it becomes someone else's problem
- Manage vendor relationships and negotiate contracts with an eye toward getting the most out of a lean budget
- Keep the office stocked, organized, and genuinely pleasant to be in — you'll set the standard and maintain it
- Coordinate logistics for onsite visitors, guests, and company events
- Support onboarding logistics so new hires walk in on day one to a space that's ready for them
- Partner with the People team on office-related aspects of the employee experience
- Proactively identify what's not working and build better processes to fix it — not just once, but durably
- You have 3–5 years of experience in office management, workplace operations, or a similar role — ideally in a startup or similarly fast-paced environment
- You're a natural problem-solver who investigates options and tries to resolve things independently before escalating
- You move fast and like being on your feet — sitting still all day isn't your style
- Details matter to you. If something is out of place, it bothers you. You fix it.
- You're warm, outgoing, and people genuinely enjoy interacting with you — you're often the first face someone sees at Sofar, and you take that seriously
- You're creative with constraints. Budget isn't unlimited, and you're good at figuring out how to do more with less without it showing
- You're organized in the way that actually works — systems you build hold up over time, not just in the short term
- You're comfortable with ambiguity and don't need a lot of hand-holding to know what matters
- You have excellent written and verbal communication skills, this will be foundational to your success juggling various tasks (and people!) at Sofar
- Experience managing physical spaces for a hardware or technical team (lab environments, equipment logistics, etc.)
- Familiarity with tools like Notion, slack or similar HR/ops platforms
- Experience coordinating internal company events
Hybrid policy: This is a fully onsite role. Our office is where the work happens, and we need someone who's there consistently and reliably from 8am to 5pm.
Compensation: We benchmark competitively and are transparent about how we think about pay. Salary range for this role is $70,000–$100,000, depending on experience.
Benefits: Health, dental, and vision coverage for employees. Equity. Flexible PTO.
Visa sponsorship: We do not sponsor visas for this role at this time.
We encourage you to apply even if you don't meet every qualification listed. Research consistently shows that underrepresented candidates are more likely to self-select out, and we don't want that. If this work sounds interesting to you, we want to hear from you.
Sofar Ocean is an equal opportunity employer. We're committed to building a team with a range of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences.
Salary : $70,000 - $100,000