SpaceX

1 week ago

Principal Solar Process Engineer (Starlink)

✓ Verified Job

Canonical indexed version, validated from employer's careers page.

Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI

Last checked: 39 minutes agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Spearhead state-of-the-art production processes for an internal solar cell line that will power Starlink satellites and Starship lunar/mars missions. Own the development, optimization, and scaling of PVD processes for TCO and other thin films supporting high-efficiency SHJ cells. Lead greenfield plant setup, equipment commissioning, recipe/process development, root-cause defect analysis, and cross-functional ramp-up to high-volume, high-yield manufacturing.

Location: United States

Workplace: Onsite

Employment Type: Full time

Job Function: Industrial, Process & Manufacturing Engineering

Seniority: Sr. Manager level

Key Responsibilities

•Design, qualify, and optimize PVD sputtering processes for SHJ front and back contacts to ensure uniformity, adhesion, resistivity, and optical transmission at GW-scale volumes.
•Lead process development for new toolsets and materials, including target management, deposition rate optimization, and defect reduction.
•Develop, implement, and maintain new and/or improved manufacturing processes, equipment, technologies, and facilities across the production lifecycle.
•Analyze production processes and machinery using physics-based, first-principles approaches; develop DOE-driven experiments to diagnose and correct manufacturing problems.
•Own machine activation/testing with a small team and prepare content for technical design reviews, demonstrating extreme ownership of yield, uptime, and cost outcomes.

Travel: High travel

Key Requirements

•Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline.
•10+ years of experience in chemical engineering design, analysis, and/or system implementation.
•10+ years of hands-on PVD process engineering experience, preferably in thin-film solar (SHJ, PERC, or CIGS), semiconductor, or display manufacturing.
•Proven track record scaling PVD processes to high-volume production (>1GW/year equivalent).
•Strong understanding of vacuum systems, plasma physics, sputtering dynamics, and thin-film characterization (e.g., XRD, SEM, Hall effect).

Experience:10+ yearsThin-film solarPhotovoltaicsSemiconductorDisplay manufacturing

Education:Bachelor's

Skills:Organizational skillsWritten communicationOral communicationExtreme ownership

Languages:English

Tech Stack:PVDPhysical Vapor DepositionDC magnetron sputteringRF magnetron sputteringTCOITOSHJPERCCIGSVacuum systemsPlasma physicsSputtering dynamicsThin-film characterizationXRDSEMHall effectSPCDoELean manufacturingCleanroom

Company Brief

SpaceX

Designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft for commercial and government customers, aiming to reduce space transportation costs and enable human life on Mars through reusable launch vehicles and integrated space systems.

Industry: Aerospace Manufacturing

Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)

Growth: Established Company

Valuation: Hectocorn (USD 100B+)

Funding: Series E+

Headquarters: Hawthorne, United States

Founded: 2002

Glassdoor: 4.2

Website LinkedIn

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SpaceX

1 week ago

Principal Solar Process Engineer (Starlink)

✓ Verified Job

Canonical indexed version, validated from employer's careers page.

Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI

Last checked: 39 minutes agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Location: United States

Workplace: Onsite

Employment Type: Full time

Job Function: Industrial, Process & Manufacturing Engineering

Seniority: Sr. Manager level

Key Responsibilities

•Design, qualify, and optimize PVD sputtering processes for SHJ front and back contacts to ensure uniformity, adhesion, resistivity, and optical transmission at GW-scale volumes.
•Lead process development for new toolsets and materials, including target management, deposition rate optimization, and defect reduction.
•Develop, implement, and maintain new and/or improved manufacturing processes, equipment, technologies, and facilities across the production lifecycle.
•Analyze production processes and machinery using physics-based, first-principles approaches; develop DOE-driven experiments to diagnose and correct manufacturing problems.
•Own machine activation/testing with a small team and prepare content for technical design reviews, demonstrating extreme ownership of yield, uptime, and cost outcomes.

Travel: High travel

Key Requirements

•Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline.
•10+ years of experience in chemical engineering design, analysis, and/or system implementation.
•10+ years of hands-on PVD process engineering experience, preferably in thin-film solar (SHJ, PERC, or CIGS), semiconductor, or display manufacturing.
•Proven track record scaling PVD processes to high-volume production (>1GW/year equivalent).
•Strong understanding of vacuum systems, plasma physics, sputtering dynamics, and thin-film characterization (e.g., XRD, SEM, Hall effect).

Experience:10+ yearsThin-film solarPhotovoltaicsSemiconductorDisplay manufacturing

Education:Bachelor's

Skills:Organizational skillsWritten communicationOral communicationExtreme ownership

Languages:English

Company Brief

SpaceX

Industry: Aerospace Manufacturing

Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)

Growth: Established Company

Valuation: Hectocorn (USD 100B+)

Funding: Series E+

Headquarters: Hawthorne, United States

Founded: 2002

Glassdoor: 4.2

Website LinkedIn