Materials Engineer - Ingot, Wafer & Solar Cells

SpaceX; Bastrop (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Materials Engineer for Starlink to own consumables across ingot, wafer, and solar cell manufacturing lines. You will source, qualify, and hand off materials with process and quality teams, while partnering with supply chain to qualify suppliers and define material specifications.

The role emphasizes first-principles problem solving, deep materials knowledge, and collaboration with manufacturing, quality, and engineering to improve performance, cost, and reliability on

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in materials science, chemical engineering, or a STEM field.
• 1+ years in materials engineering, materials selection, or related manufacturing support.
• Preferred: advanced degree and hands-on material qualification experience.

Responsibilities

• Own consumable materials across ingot, wafer, and solar cell manufacturing with sourcing and qualification.
• Partner with supply chain to qualify suppliers for critical process materials.
• Define material requirements and acceptance criteria with process and quality teams.
• Plan material qualification campaigns including trials and readiness assessments.
• Drive root-cause analysis from first principles and implement corrective actions.
• Understand material chemistry, microstructure, and process interactions for metals, polymers, crystals.
• Identify opportunities to improve material performance, cost, yield, and reliability.

Skills

Materials engineering

First-principles problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Safety culture

Education

Bachelor's in materials science

Bachelor's in chemical engineering

STEM degree

Tools

SEM-EDS

XRD

FTIR

Optical microscopy

Mechanical property testing

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Materials Engineer for Starlink to own consumables across ingot, wafer, and solar cell manufacturing lines. You will source, qualify, and hand off materials with process and quality teams, while partnering with supply chain to qualify suppliers and define material specifications.

The role emphasizes first-principles problem solving, deep materials knowledge, and collaboration with manufacturing, quality, and engineering to improve performance, cost, and reliability on