Solar Equipment Engineer

K2 Space•Los Angeles, CA

8d•$110,000 - $160,000

About The Position

K2 Space is building high-power satellite platforms for missions across LEO, MEO, GEO, cis-lunar, and deep space. The Solar Equipment Engineer will own automated equipment used to manufacture and test large solar arrays at production scale, working closely with process, manufacturing, and facilities engineers to ensure equipment performance, reliability, and uptime. The role coordinates and executes the installation, qualification, and ongoing support of the mechanical and electrical systems of solar manufacturing equipment. The engineer will improve equipment and process performance, develop maintenance and spare-parts programs, lead root-cause investigations, collaborate with vendors and the internal automation team on equipment upgrades, and report equipment performance and its effects on downstream processes. The role requires a bachelor's degree in a relevant technical field, an internship in a listed technical area, and hands-on hardware experience. The hired person must be a U.S. person as defined by ITAR or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export-control license.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in physics, materials science, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, or a related technical field.
Internship in at least one of photovoltaics, power systems, semiconductor equipment, or automation.
Hands-on hardware experience through internships, research, design competitions, or extracurricular projects.
Must be a U.S. person as defined by ITAR or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export-control license.

Nice To Haves

Internship or research experience with solar arrays or power systems for space applications.
Exposure to solar cell or module characterization techniques, such as IV curves, electroluminescence, or flash testing.
Experience with automated equipment or subsystems such as robotics, motion control, vision systems, conveyors, or pneumatics.
Familiarity with PLCs, sensors, or instrumentation, or experience troubleshooting electromechanical systems.
Exposure to manufacturing processes such as soldering, bonding, layup, or electromechanical assembly.
Coursework or project experience in reliability engineering, failure analysis, or root-cause methods such as 5 Whys, fishbone, or 8D.
Familiarity with statistical analysis or SPC using Python, MATLAB, JMP, or Minitab.
Experience in cleanroom or controlled manufacturing environments, or safe handling of adhesives, solvents, or other hazardous materials.
Familiarity with space-environment effects on materials, including radiation, thermal cycling, and atomic oxygen.
Experience with CAD software such as NX, CATIA, or SolidWorks and practical GD&T application.
Independent, self-motivated mindset with strong organizational, written, and oral communication skills.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with facilities and process engineers to install, qualify, maintain, and continually improve solar-array manufacturing equipment.
Own equipment reliability and uptime; design, execute, and analyze experiments to improve within-tool process variance, tool-to-tool performance variance, and defect performance.
Develop and execute preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, spare-parts programs, and tool-matching protocols.
Lead root-cause investigations and corrective actions for assigned equipment.
Work with vendors and the internal automation team on equipment design improvements, upgrades, and custom solutions.
Establish equipment performance metrics, including OEE, MTBF, and MTTR, and implement statistical process control for hardware stability.
Report factory health to process engineers and company leadership through clear documentation of equipment performance and its impact on downstream processes.