Device Engineer

Active Surfaces; Woburn (MA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Top-tier health and dental insurance

Vacation and personal leave

Commute reimbursement

Wellness program

Cell phone reimbursement

401K matching

Job summary

Active Surfaces seeks a Device Engineer to advance solar thin-film devices. You will lead development of perovskite/OPV-inspired semiconductor materials, prototype devices, and vet materials for scalable manufacturing. Reporting to the CTO, you’ll shape next-gen solar products and work in a fast-paced startup setting.

This on-site role in Woburn, MA offers visa sponsorship and the chance to drive high-impact innovations in clean energy with a collaborative team committed to rapid growth.

Qualifications

• PhD in a relevant field required.
• Experience with thin-film semiconductor tech and device optimization.
• Strong ability to plan, execute, and interpret experiments.

Responsibilities

• Drive R&D for next-gen solar thin-film devices.
• Prototype, test, and optimize semiconductor materials and device architectures.
• Integrate new materials into high-efficiency solar devices and align with manufacturing.
• Collaborate with Engineering to scale improvements across workflows.
• Analyze data to guide decisions and identify optimization areas.
• Support scaling promising materials toward manufacturing and commercialization.
• Maintain meticulous records of experiments and results.

Skills

Thin-film tech

Laboratory analysis

Data interpretation

Experiment planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

PhD in Electrical Eng / Materials Science / Physics / Chemistry

Tools

SEM

TEM

XRD

GIWAX

AFM

XPS

PLQE

TRPL

UV-Vis

Job description

About Us

At Active Surfaces, our mission is bold: to unlock clean energy in places traditional solar can't reach. Our technology, born from nearly a decade of materials science research at MIT, enables ultra-lightweight, flexible solar modules that install on rooftops, walls, and industrial surfaces once considered off-limits. With our platform, the built environment itself becomes a source of clean power.

Since our founding, we've rapidly emerged as one of the most exciting startups in climate tech, merging breakthrough science with advanced manufacturing. Backed by leading global investors and strategic partners — including J-POWER, Sabancı, and Lendlease — and having already deployed a paid pilot with a Fortune 500 partner, we're scaling quickly to support a growing pipeline of deployments and commercial opportunities through 2028.

We're expanding our team to support this next phase of rapid growth. These key hires will join a world-class group with deep expertise in semiconductor and perovskite research, roll-to-roll manufacturing, and commercial leadership across the energy sector.

Let's be direct about what this is. We're a small team taking on a genuinely hard problem—and we hire accordingly. This is a high-intensity, early-stage environment where the pace is fast and the work you do is load-bearing: it directly determines whether we scale. We look for people who hold themselves to an exceptionally high bar, want deep ownership, and are energized rather than daunted by ambiguity. The work is demanding; the upside—in impact, in career growth, and in equity—is meant to match it. Few people get to materially change whether clean energy reaches places solar never could. If that's the room you want to be in, you'll be surrounded by people who feel the same.

How we work:

• Tackle hard problems first — we front-load the hardest work to minimize wasted cycles and accelerate learning.
• Stay curious and creative — we thrive in ambiguity and push the boundaries of innovation.
• Thrive on feedback — we use it to grow quickly, as individuals and as a team.
• Act today, not tomorrow — we move with urgency and a bias toward action.
• Trust the team and be trustworthy — we communicate openly and show up reliably for one another.

If you hold yourself to that bar and want to shape the future of solar alongside us, we want to meet you.

About the Job

As a Device Engineer, you will be a key player in our Engineering Team efforts to advance solar thin-film devices. Your expertise in thin-film semiconductor materials, preferably in perovskites and organic photovoltaics (OPVs), will be vital in driving the development of our next-generation solar products. Reporting to the Founder & Chief Technology Officer (CTO), you will take a leading role in developing, testing and vetting semi-conductor materials, to be integrated into our solar device products.

This role is eligible for visa sponsorship.

This job will be located full-time on site in Woburn, MA.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research and development activities to drive the innovation of next-generation solar thin-film devices
• Prototype, test, and optimize semiconductor device architectures; semiconductor, metallic and dielectric thin-film materials, leveraging your expertise in thin-film, with a focus on Perovskites and OPVs
• Prototype, test and optimize semiconductor and metallic and dielectric thin-film materials on novel manufacturing processes
• Ensure the successful integration of new materials into working, high efficiency devices and vet overall manufacturing compatibility
• Work closely with the rest of the Engineering Team to ensure successful integration of improvements into all research and manufacturing workflows
• Analyze and interpret experimental data to guide decision-making and identify areas for improvement
• Assist in the scaling-up of promising materials for manufacturing and commercialization

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry or a related field.
• 5-6 years of hands‑on experience in device engineering, preferably in the field of solar energy, optoelectronics, or semiconductor device design (or a strong desire to learn)
• Strong background in thin‑film semiconductor technology and experience in the manufacturing, characterization and optimization of solar cells or similar heterojunction devices (e.g. OPVs, OLEDs, TFTs, or thin‑film sensors)
• Extensive laboratory experience, adept at planning and conducting experiments, analyzing data and driving optimization.
• Experience working with a wide variety of R+D development tools used in optoelectronic thin‑film device optimization (SEM, TEM, Powder XRD, GIWAX, AFM, XPS, PLQE, TRPL, UV-Vis, Fluorescence, Bright and Dark Field Microscopy, and a variety of electrical measurements)
• Demonstrated ability to work with multiple materials and openness to exploring new material systems and manufacturing methods
• Passionate about innovation and able to bring creativity to the development of solar devices
• Eager to contribute and learn in a collaborative and dynamic and fast paced start‑up environment

Bonus Points

• Expertise in perovskite solar cells and/or organic photovoltaics (OPVs).
• Experience with R2R coating technology (slot-die, blade coating or related)
• Experience with cleanrooms and gloveboxes
• Experience in using laser spectroscopy or building spectroscopic systems for studying and improving optoelectronic materials and systems
• Experience with various coding languages (Python, MATLAB, LabView) along with knowledge or willingness to learn R+D electrical system control and scripting (eg. Keithley 2400/2600 GPIB (IEEE-488), Ethernet or USB control)
• A willingness to ‘tinker’, or experiment to drive value and generate new ideas
• Experience with setting electrical breadboard test systems
• Experience with prototyping hardware (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32)
• Experience with mechanical design (Solidworks, Autodesk) and prototyping (3D Printing or basic metal machining or CAM)
• Experience with electrical layout (Altium, EZCad)

Perks

• Top-tier health and dental insurance (90% covered)
• 15 days vacation, 5 days personal leave (20 once seniority is reached)
• Commute reimbursement (75%)
• Wellness program ($50/month)
• Cell Phone Reimbursement ($50/month)
• 401K Matching (up to 5%)