Equipment Engineer, Deposition

T1 Energy; Rockdale (TX); On-site; USD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

T1 Energy is building a 5GW solar module facility in Wilmer, TX, expanding into Rockdale where G2 will deploy TOPCon equipment. We seek a hands-on Equipment Engineer to own vacuum deposition toolsets, manage PMs, and drive uptime in a fast-paced, on-site role.

You will run ALD/PECVD/LPCVD and related hardware, perform root-cause analysis, and collaborate with Process Engineering to optimize chamber conditions and film quality.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or associate degree with hands-on engineering experience.

Responsibilities

• Own OEE, availability, MTBF, and MTTR for your toolset.
• Be first on the tool when it goes down. Diagnose, fix, and safely bring data to vendor if needed.
• Close root cause on chronic failures using 8D, FMEA, and Pareto; verify fixes hold.
• Analyze alarm histories, maintenance records, and tool data in JMP/SQL/Python/Excel.
• Own the PM schedule and refine vendor PM procedures with critical-spares planning.
• Maintain interlocks, gas detection, exhaust/abatement interfaces, and vacuum safety systems.
• Collaborate with Process Engineering on chamber conditions and cycle life.
• Train technicians; write procedures for install, SAT, and ramp.

Skills

Hands-on engineer

Failure analysis

Decisive under pressure

Effective communicator

Vacuum/plasma expertise

Chamber condition control

Education

Bachelor’s or Associate in Mechanical/Electrical/Chemical/Mechatronics

Tools

ALD

PECVD

LPCVD

Sputter

Vacuum pumps

Gas handling systems

PLCs/HMI

Job description

T1 Energy is bringing solar manufacturing back to the U.S. by building a domestic solar supply chain. Our mission is to invigorate America with scalable, reliable, and low-cost energy. Our fully operational 5GW solar module facility in Wilmer, Texas, can manufacture more than 20,000 modules every 24 hours. By the time you finish reading this paragraph, we will have produced two solar panels that will power American homes and fuel domestic AI. We're focused on building advanced American manufacturing and we're passionate about engineering a better future filled with abundant energy.

The Role

G2 is T1 Energy’s new TOPCon solar cell fab in Rockdale, Texas. Deposition lays the passivation and coating films that set cell efficiency: ALD alumina and front and rear PECVD. These are the most complex tools in the fab, and the least forgiving when chamber condition drifts. We’re hiring Equipment Engineers to keep them running.

You’ll own a set of vacuum deposition tools, from install through high-volume production. The set covers ALD platforms and front-side and rear-side PECVD platforms. It’s a hands‑on role: most of your day is at the tool, and you’ll be trusted to make the engineering calls that keep it running.

This is an on‑site role at G2 in Rockdale, Texas, day shift supporting a 24/7 fab, with an on‑call rotation for critical tool‑downs, and cleanroom and sub‑fab work in full chemical PPE. You’ll be building a fab from the ground up: your PMs, your procedures, and your fixes become the standard, and the calls on your tools are yours to make.

What You’ll Do

• Own OEE, availability, MTBF, and MTTR for your toolset.
• Be first on the tool when it goes down. Make it safe, diagnose the failed component, and restore it. When you escalation to the vendor, bring clear data.
• Close root cause on chronic failures, wafer breakage, and leaks using 8D, FMEA, and Pareto, and verify the fixes hold.
• Analyze alarm histories, maintenance records, and tool data in JMP, SQL, Python, or Excel to spot failure trends before they cause downtime.
• Own the PM schedule, refine vendor PM procedures, and set critical‑spares levels, then adjust both from failure history.
• Keep interlocks, gas detection, exhaust and abatement interfaces, and vacuum safety systems working on tools running silane, precursors, and other hazardous process gases. You’ll do this together with EHS.
• Work with Process Engineering on chamber condition, clean and season cycles, kit life, and the hardware that drives film thickness and uniformity.
• Bring tools through install, SAT, and qualification into production. Write down the procedures and train the technicians who run them.

Who You Are

• A hands‑on equipment engineer who would rather be at the tool than in a meeting.
• Systematic about failure: you fix the cause, not the symptom, and you check that it held.
• Decisive when a tool is down, and the line is waiting.
• A straight communicator with process, production, facilities, EHS, and vendors.
• Comfortable with vacuum and plasma systems, and disciplined about chamber condition and leak integrity.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, or Mechatronics Engineering, or an associate degree with equivalent hands‑on experience.
• 3+ years of hands‑on equipment engineering in semiconductor, solar, or similar high‑volume manufacturing.
• Hands‑on repair of vacuum deposition tools (ALD, PECVD, LPCVD, or sputter), including dry and turbo pumps, gauges and valves, RF generators and matching networks, electrodes, precursor delivery and vaporizers, and chamber kits.
• Component‑level troubleshooting from electrical schematics, pneumatic drawings, P&IDs, and PLC/HMI diagnostics.
• A track record of eliminating a chronic equipment failure, not just repairing it again.
• Safe working practice with pyrophoric and toxic process gases, vacuum systems, helium leak detection, and LOTO.
• Preferred: solar cell (TOPCon, PERC, or HJT) or semiconductor fab experience.
• Preferred: greenfield tool install, SAT, and ramp experience.

The T1 Way

We move fast, expect accountability, and treat people with respect. We also have a no‑jerks policy: we don't tolerate big egos, bad behavior or 'that's not my job attitude'. Be sharp, be honest, be human. If you can hold the line and have a sense of humor, you'll fit right in.

T1 Energy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants and do not discriminate on the basis of any legally protected characteristics.