Equipment Engineer, Thermal

T1 Energy Inc.; Rockdale (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

T1 Energy is hiring Equipment Engineers to own a tool set in a fast-moving 24/7 TOPCon fab in Rockdale, Texas. You’ll manage thermal equipment from installation through high-volume production, diagnose failures, and implement preventative measures to keep lines running safely and efficiently.

You’ll work hands-on at the tool, coordinating with Process Engineering and EHS, with an on-site, day-shift role supporting a 24/7 fab and an on-call rotation for critical issues.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, or Mechatronics Engineering (or related).
• 3+ years of hands-on equipment engineering in semiconductor, solar, or similar high-volume manufacturing.
• Hands-on repair of tube diffusion, oxidation, or LPCVD furnaces, including heating elements, thermocouples, gas delivery, vacuum and pressure control, and boat handling.
• Component-level troubleshooting from electrical schematics, pneumatic drawings, P&IDs, and PLC/HMI diagnostics.
• Track record of eliminating a chronic equipment failure, not just repairing it.
• Safe working practices with toxic and corrosive process gases, high-temperature systems, quartzware handling, and LOTO.
• Preferred: solar cell TOPCon, PERC, or HJT experience; greenfield tool install, SAT, ramp experience.

Responsibilities

• Own OEE, availability, MTBF, and MTTR for your toolset.
• Be first on the tool when it goes down; diagnose, fix, or escalate with clear data.
• Close root causes on chronic failures and leaks using 8D, FMEA, and Pareto.
• Analyze alarm histories and tool data in JMP/SQL/Python/Excel to spot trends.
• Own PM schedule; refine procedures and set spare levels based on history.
• Maintain interlocks, gas detection, exhaust and scrubber interfaces, and over-temperature protection.
• Collaborate with Process Engineering on quartzware life and cleaning cycles.
• Lead tool installation, SAT, and ramp; document procedures and train technicians.
• Write down procedures and train the technicians who run them.

Skills

Equipment engineering

Diagnosing failures

Data analysis

Education

Bachelors in Mechanical/Electrical/Chemical/Mechatronics

Associates with hands-on experience

Tools

JMP

SQL

Python

Excel

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. Thermal process sets the junction: boron diffusion, oxidation, and the furnaces that follow. When these tools drift or stop, cell efficiency and output go with them. We’re hiring Equipment Engineers to keep them running.

You’ll own a set of thermal tools, from install through high-volume production. The set covers boron diffusion and oxidation vertical tube furnaces and the Boating Room equipment that feeds them. 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, day-shift role at G2 in Rockdale, Texas, supporting a 24/7 fab. It includes an on-call rotation for critical tool-downs, as well as 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 escape 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 the schedule and spares levels based on failure history.
• Keep interlocks, gas detection, exhaust and scrubber interfaces, and over-temperature protection working on tools running boron and phosphorus precursors, oxygen, and nitrogen. You’ll do this together with EHS.
• Work with Process Engineering on quartzware life and cleaning cycles, boat load and unload hardware, and temperature profiling.
• 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.
• Methodical about consumable life, thermal profiling, and preventive replacement.

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 tube diffusion, oxidation, or LPCVD furnaces, including heating elements, thermocouples, gas delivery (mass flow controllers, valves, heated lines), vacuum and pressure control, and boat handling.
• 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 toxic and corrosive process gases, high‑temperature systems, quartzware handling, 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.