Staff Engineer, Process Development
About The Position
QuantumScape’s Cobra Hardware & Process team develops heat-treatment equipment and processes to scale up the Cobra ceramic separator manufacturing process. The team custom-designs most of its equipment and brings together hardware and process engineers to improve throughput, quality, and robustness. The Staff Engineer, Process Development will help develop next-generation processes and tools. The role calls for a strong background in processing or materials and experience working with equipment, including close collaboration with mechanical and controls engineers. The engineer will influence which design and process approaches are prototyped, deployed on production tooling, and incorporated into the long-term roadmap for separator manufacturing. This position is onsite five days per week in a dry room or lab area.
Requirements
- PhD in engineering or science with at least 6 years of experience, preferably in an industrial process R&D setting; candidates with a BS or MS and equivalent industry experience in process research and development will also be considered.
- Experience with materials characterization techniques such as XRD, SEM, FIB, or EDS.
- Hands-on troubleshooting experience with mechanical systems, preferably processing equipment for batteries, semiconductors, or related fields.
- Familiarity with mechanical design, including at least one major CAD package such as SolidWorks or AutoDesk Inventor.
- Working knowledge of statistics and proficiency in data analysis software such as JMP, Python, or equivalent.
- Ability to drive projects to completion with little oversight.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in web handling.
- Deep familiarity with high-temperature processing and equipment, such as Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP).
- Experience fabricating or characterizing ceramic materials or thin films, especially solid electrolyte or energy materials.
- Experience in process and/or manufacturing scale-up.
Responsibilities
- Design and execute experiments for fabricating ceramic films on prototype heat-treatment equipment.
- Analyze materials characterization data, prepare reports for colleagues, and recommend process and hardware improvements.
- Suggest, oversee, and evaluate the effects of hardware modifications to existing processing equipment.
- Bring up, debug, and transfer processes to new production equipment.
- Identify potential process or hardware failure modes and develop robust mitigation strategies.
Benefits
- Annual bonus.
- RSU/equity package.
- Employee-paid health care.
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP).
- Other benefits.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
