Equipment Engineer, Screen Printing

T1 Energy; Georgia; On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

T1 Energy is building a G2 TOPCon solar cell fab in Rockdale, Texas, and we’re hiring Equipment Engineers to own metallization tools from install to high‑volume production. This is an on‑site, day shift role for a 24/7 facility with on‑call rotations, cleanroom work, and a fast‑paced startup environment.

You’ll own PM schedules, diagnose tool issues, and lead safety and process improvements with EHS and Process Engineering.

Qualifications

• 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 screen printers, belt dryers, or firing furnaces, including print heads, squeegees, screen and stencil mounting, vision alignment, belt drives, and thermal zones.
• 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 metallization pastes and solvents, high-temperature belt furnaces, and LOTO.
• Preferred: solar cell (TOPCon, PERC, or HJT) or semiconductor fab experience.
• Preferred: greenfield tool install, SAT, and ramp experience.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• 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, over-temperature protection, exhaust and abatement interfaces, and paste and solvent handling controls working across the print line. You’ll do this together with EHS.
• Work with Process Engineering on print alignment, wet weight, screen and stencil life, and firing profile hardware.
• Bring tools through install, SAT, and qualification into production. Write down the procedures and train the technicians who run them.

Skills

Hands-on

Failure analysis

Decision making

Communication

Detail-oriented

Education

Bachelor in Mechanical / Electrical / Chemical / Mechatronics or related field

Associate degree with hands-on experience

Tools

Screen printers

Belt dryers

Firing furnaces

Print heads & squeegees

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. The print line puts the contacts on the cell: screen printers, dryers, and firing furnaces. It is the last step before test, and the most fragile one in the flow. We’re hiring Equipment Engineers to keep them running.

You’ll own a set of metallization tools, from install through high-volume production. The set covers screen printers, dryers, and firing furnaces across the print line. 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 escal**ate** 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, over-temperature protection, exhaust and abatement interfaces, and paste and solvent handling controls working across the print line. You’ll do this together with EHS.
• Work with Process Engineering on print alignment, wet weight, screen and stencil life, and firing profile hardware.
• 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.
• Detail‑oriented about alignment, print quality, and wafer breakage at the most fragile point in the line.

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 screen printers, belt dryers, or firing furnaces, including print heads, squeegees, screen and stencil mounting, vision alignment, belt drives, and thermal zones.
• 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 metallization pastes and solvents, high-temperature belt furnaces, 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.