About KatchiKatchi Technologies is a Halifax-based ocean-technology company building autonomous trawl-control and fisheries-data systems for the commercial fishing industry. Our flagship product, AutoTrawl, keeps fishing gear precisely positioned in the water column - reducing seabed contact, cutting fuel, and opening the door to high-quality fisheries data collected from working vessels.
This is a small, technically deep team. You'll have real ownership of your work, and what you build will go to sea.
The Role You'll be our lead Mechatronics Engineer, owning the hardware-software-integration core of the AutoTrawl system and reporting directly to the founding members. This is a hands-on mechatronics role spanning embedded software, electronics integration, marine sensor and communications work, and the mechanical packaging that must survive in a trawl net and at depth.
What you'll do:
- Develop and harden real-time control software and firmware for the AutoTrawl system
- Select, integrate, and interface marine hardware - sensors, controllers, actuators, and vessel systems - and decide “what goes on the boat”
- Build robust communication and data interfaces between wheelhouse equipment, our control units, and shoreside/cloud systems
- Design sealed, submersible electromechanical enclosures and mounts (CAD) for our in-net control units
- Lead bench testing, dockside commissioning, and at-sea trials aboard partner vessels
- Drive external design and manufacturing subcontractors to deliverable hardware
- Apply AI tools and workflows to accelerate engineering, data handling, and development across the project
What You Bring (Required)- Minimum 5 years of professional engineering experience designing and shipping electromechanical or instrumentation products.
- Degree in Mechatronics, Electrical, Computer, or Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent demonstrated experience)
- Strong embedded firmware development (C/C++, real-time/RTOS) and electronics interfacing
- Hands-on experience with communication protocols - marine (NMEA 0183 / 2000) and/or industrial/embedded (CAN, Modbus, RS-232/422/485, SPI/I²C) and TCP/IP networking
- CAD proficiency (SolidWorks preferred) for sealed/submersible enclosure and mechanical packaging design
- Ocean-sector / marine / subsea experience - you understand corrosion, sealing, connectors, ingress protection, and building gear that works in a harsh marine environment
- AI-forward - genuinely interested in AI tools and workflows, and active about bringing them into how you work
- Comfortable on boats and on the water
- Valid driver's licence
- Willingness to travel and go aboard vessels, and to go to sea for trials when required
- Able to perform hands-on physical work, including lifting up to ~50 lbs
- Eigible to work in Canada
Strong Assets (Nice to Have)- P.Eng licence (or eligibility for licensure with Engineers Nova Scotia)
- PCB / custom electronics design
- Hydraulic experience
- Active use of AI tools and workflows in engineering practice
Soft Skills- Well-spoken, confident, and presentable - able to represent Katchi to customers, partners, and stakeholders.
- Clear communicator, comfortable working closely with a lean team
Why Join Us- High-impact role where you help take a proven product to market
- Work that ships and gets tested in the real world - on real fishing vessels
- Competitive salary in Halifax's growing ocean-technology cluster
- A genuinely hard, meaningful engineering problem in sustainable fisheries
How to Apply
Apply with your resume and a one-page project synopsis. Your project synopsis should cover one electromechanical, instrumentation, or marine systems project you shipped (or took through field/sea trial) and include:
- The problem and operating environment
- Your role and technical ownership
- Key design and integration choices (hardware, firmware/software, communications, packaging)
- How you verified it and what the outcome was (metrics welcome)
We review applications on a rolling basis and will contact candidates selected for next steps.
