HTL Materials Synthetic Chemist

Tandem PV•Fremont, CA

About The Position

TandemPV is hiring an HTL Materials Synthetic Chemist to advance and continuously improve its hole-transport-layer (HTL) materials and their integration into photovoltaic devices. Reporting to the Vice President of Quality, this role combines hands-on research and development laboratory work with collaboration across R&D, manufacturing, external collaborators, and other functions. The goal is to develop HTL materials into viable, scalable materials for pilot production and manufacturing. The successful candidate will serve as a chemistry and materials subject-matter expert, rationally designing, synthesizing, purifying, and characterizing HTL materials from milligram to multigram scale. For successful materials, the chemist will help develop specifications, qualification testing, and excursion management. The role also supports material and equipment qualification, supplier and partner selection, quality systems, root-cause investigations, corrective and preventive actions, and continuous improvement. TandemPV develops mechanically stacked perovskite-silicon tandem solar technology and is scaling its products toward commercial manufacturing. The company is headquartered in Fremont, California, with an R&D and manufacturing facility.

Requirements

PhD in Chemistry, Materials Science, or a closely related field; an MS may be considered with solid experience and a competitive track record.
At least 2 years of practical, interdisciplinary experience; postdoctoral appointments and fellowships may count.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document methods and clearly present technical results.
Ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, innovation-driven environment.

Nice To Haves

Experience selecting external firms, negotiating agreements with them, or developing technology in collaboration with start-ups, medium-sized companies, and large companies.
Experience applying structured process-improvement methodologies to advanced or emerging technologies.
Experience synthesizing, processing, and characterizing hybrid perovskite thin-film photovoltaic materials, integrating those materials into photovoltaic devices, and characterizing and testing those devices.
Experience with retrosynthetic analysis and planning safe multistep synthesis.
Experience isolating and purifying small and large molecules using methods such as HPLC, LC, TLC, recrystallization, and distillation.
Experience with chemical analysis methods including HPLC, NMR, CV, UV/Vis/IR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry.
Experience negotiating agreements, developing technology with collaborators, or transferring technology to or from start-ups, medium and large companies, and academic groups.
Experience developing patent applications and strategy.
Experience developing quality systems.

Responsibilities

Synthesize, purify, and characterize HTL materials end to end, from milligram to multigram scale.
Create, perform, and document materials qualification standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Advance and track quality metrics for advanced materials, such as yield, reliability indicators, and defect rates, and drive related corrective and preventive actions.
Help identify, evaluate, and select suppliers, vendors, and external partners, including conducting due diligence, planning joint development, and assessing quality-related risks for selection and scale-up.
Support negotiation of technical statements of work, quality specifications, and acceptance criteria for materials and equipment.
Collaborate with partner organizations to create, develop, and qualify materials and equipment, resolve quality issues, and improve performance and reliability.
Analyze process, characterization, and reliability data to conduct root-cause investigations and implement corrective actions.
Establish control strategies and monitoring plans to support continuous improvement cycles.
Work with R&D, process engineering, reliability, and operations teams to embed quality principles into technology roadmaps and development milestones.
For successful materials, lead or collaborate on developing materials specifications, qualification testing, and excursion management.