Sr. Wet Process Equipment Engineer, Solar Cells (Starlink)
On-siteBastrop, Texas, United States
Job Summary
Install, qualify, maintain, and continuously improve high-throughput texturing and preclean equipment for heterojunction silicon solar cell manufacturing at massive scale. Drive equipment reliability and uptime to support very large volume production, running experiments to improve capacity, reduce variation, and enhance defect performance. Develop preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, spare parts programs, and tool matching protocols while leading root cause analysis on chemical delivery systems, pumps, filtration, and robotics. Evaluate next-generation tools capable of supporting 1GW+ per tool scale and work with vendors on design improvements and custom solutions. Establish performance metrics and statistical process control for hardware stability, ensuring all equipment meets cleanroom and aerospace manufacturing standards. Attend meetings to communicate factory state to leadership.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or related technical discipline
- 5+ years of hands-on experience owning and maintaining chemical process equipment in a high-volume semiconductor, solar manufacturing, or related environment
- Experience handling flammable, toxic, corrosive, and/or hazardous chemicals and gases safely
- Must be able to work extended hours and weekends as needed to support production and urgent equipment downtime situations
- Ability to lift 25 lbs unassisted, work in cleanroom environments, and move between multiple production areas
- Willingness to travel domestically and internationally to vendor sites (up to 20%)
- Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, Refugee, or Asylee (or eligible to obtain required authorizations)
Desired Qualifications
- 7+ years of hands-on experience owning and maintaining chemical process equipment in a high-volume semiconductor or solar manufacturing environment
- Strong technical expertise in chemical delivery systems, wet process equipment, pumps, filtration, temperature control hardware, robotics, and automation
- Demonstrated success improving equipment uptime and reliability in a 24/7 high-volume production setting
- Experience with heterojunction (HJT) silicon solar cell manufacturing equipment
- Previous work at high-volume solar, semiconductor, or display manufacturing facilities (multi-GW or 300mm fab experience is a plus)
- Deep knowledge of texturing tool architecture and subsystems
- Experience with chemical concentration control, bath lifetime optimization, rinse systems, dryer systems, and particle control
- Experience with electro-pneumatic robot and transfer module systems
- Experience with hazardous chemical delivery, handling, and abatement systems
- Experience scaling equipment from pilot to very high volume production
- Proficiency with statistical tools (JMP, Minitab), failure analysis techniques, and reliability engineering principles
- Strong project management skills with the ability to drive complex equipment installations and qualifications
- Familiarity with high-reliability manufacturing standards for aerospace applications
Hiring someone like this?
Get your role in front of qualified candidates on Sorce.