CVD Equipment Engineer, Solar Cells (Starlink)
Core
Own PECVD equipment used to manufacture silicon heterojunction solar cells at massive scale for Starlink satellites and Starship missions.
Role type
Senior IC equipment engineer (solar cell manufacturing)
Builds
High-throughput PECVD tools for heterojunction silicon solar cell production
Domain
Aerospace + Semiconductor manufacturing
Required skills
PECVD equipment ownership, vacuum systems, RF plasma systems, gas delivery, mass flow controllers, temperature control hardware, root cause analysis, preventive maintenance, statistical process control, cleanroom standards, physics-based analysis
Preferred skills
Heterojunction (HJT) solar cell manufacturing, 300mm fab experience, throttle valve PID tuning, helium leak checking, CDA controlled valving, electro-pneumatic robot systems, pyrophoric gas handling, RF generators, equipment scaling, JMP/Minitab, reliability engineering, project management, aerospace manufacturing standards
Technologies
PECVD, RF generators, mass flow controllers, vacuum systems, CDA, electro-pneumatic robots
Responsibilities
Install, qualify, maintain, and improve high-throughput PECVD equipment; drive equipment reliability and uptime; run experiments to improve capacity and reduce variation; develop preventive and predictive maintenance strategies; lead root cause analysis on equipment issues; partner with process engineers on new requirements; evaluate next-generation tools; work with vendors on design improvements; establish equipment performance metrics; ensure compliance with cleanroom and safety standards; analyze production processes from a first principles approach; communicate factory state to leadership
Seniority
Senior, hands-on IC