Equipment Engineer, Wet Process (Solar Cells)

SpaceX•Bastrop, TX

About The Position

SpaceX’s Starlink team is developing a large satellite constellation to provide high-speed internet around the world. The Equipment Engineer, Wet Process will own the chemical processing equipment used to manufacture silicon heterojunction solar cells, including wet chemical texturing and preclean tools. The role works closely with the Texturing Process Engineering team and is responsible for equipment availability, stability, reliability, and scaling for high-volume production. The engineer will help establish and support an internal solar cell production line, providing high-efficiency, high-quality cells for Starlink satellites and Starship missions. The position focuses on equipment performance and improvement, from installation and qualification through maintenance, troubleshooting, vendor collaboration, and selection of next-generation production tools.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related technical discipline.
At least 2 years of hands-on experience owning and maintaining chemical process equipment in a high-volume semiconductor, solar manufacturing, or related environment.
Experience safely handling flammable, toxic, corrosive, and/or hazardous chemicals and gases.
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 meet the stated U.S. export-regulation eligibility requirements: be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Nice To Haves

At least 5 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 such as JMP and Minitab, failure analysis techniques, and reliability engineering principles.
Strong project management skills and ability to drive complex equipment installations and qualifications.
Familiarity with high-reliability manufacturing standards for aerospace applications.

Responsibilities

Work with facilities and process engineering teams to install, qualify, maintain, and continuously improve high-throughput texturing and preclean equipment for heterojunction silicon solar cell manufacturing.
Drive equipment reliability and uptime for high-volume production; run experiments and analyze data to improve capacity, reduce tool-to-tool variation, and improve defect performance.
Develop and execute preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, spare parts programs, and tool-matching protocols.
Lead root cause analysis and corrective actions for equipment issues involving chemical delivery systems, pumps, filtration, temperature control, robotics and automation, wet benches, and exhaust and abatement systems.
Partner with Process Engineers to implement new process requirements on existing and future equipment platforms.
Evaluate and select next-generation high-throughput texturing tools capable of supporting 1 GW+ per-tool-scale production.
Work with vendors on equipment design improvements, upgrades, and custom solutions for heterojunction solar cell requirements.
Establish equipment performance metrics, including OEE, MTBF, and MTTR, and implement statistical process control for hardware stability.
Ensure equipment meets cleanroom, safety, and high-reliability manufacturing standards.
Analyze production processes and machinery using a first-principles, physics-based approach.
Attend meetings and communicate the factory state regarding the team’s equipment to leadership.