Senior Photovoltaics / Solar Array Engineer - Solar & Deployables

ArcTern Ventures; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 183,000 - 198,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental and vision insurance

401k retirement plan

Paid vacation

Paid holidays

Unlimited sick time

Parental leave

Equity compensation

Job summary

Muon Space is seeking a Senior Photovoltaics/Solar Array Engineer to own the design, qualification, and sustainment of spacecraft photovoltaic systems. You will lead cell selection, encapsulation, and array architecture, partnering with vendors to optimize mass, power, and cost while ensuring reliability.

This role is onsite in San Jose, with a hands-on, cross-functional remit. You will mentor junior engineers, manage environmental tests, and drive design reviews across the program life cycle,

Qualifications

• 8+ years designing, building, and testing high-reliability hardware, including 5+ years with solar arrays or photovoltaic systems.
• Hands-on experience with solar cell selection, encapsulation/lamination, or array electrical design.
• Experience with array performance prediction and power budgeting.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Own photovoltaic systems design, encapsulation, and array electrical architecture for assigned missions.
• Lead solar cell selection and qualification, including procurement specifications and performance characterization.
• Build partnerships with solar cell vendors and manufacturers for co-development of arrays.
• Define array electrical architecture: string sizing, diode strategy, grounding/bonding, layout.
• Optimize total system efficiency by balancing mass, power, and cost at the array and spacecraft level.
• Develop and maintain array performance predictions (BOL/EOL, radiation/thermal effects) and reconcile with test/on-orbit data.
• Own encapsulation, lamination, bonding processes; partner with manufacturing on instructions, tooling, and yield improvements.
• Own array and coupon qualification, including environmental tests and data packages.
• Collaborate with mechanical, structural, and thermal engineers to iterate designs for performance and manufacturability; support make vs. buy decisions.
• Document photovoltaics best practices; contribute to design reviews (PDR, CDR, MRR).
• Mentor junior engineers and technicians, driving scale from prototype to constellation quantities.

Skills

Photovoltaics

Space hardware

Systems thinking

Python

MATLAB

Vendor collaboration

Education

Electrical Engineering

Tools

CAD

PLM

Test Equipment

Job description

About the role

Muon seeks a Senior Photovoltaics / Solar Array Engineer to own the design, qualification, and sustainment of the photovoltaic systems that power our spacecraft — solar cell selection and test, encapsulation and lamination, array electrical architecture, and array-level performance prediction. This role owns the array from cell coupon through qualified flight hardware, optimizing total system efficiency across mass, power, and cost.

You'll be a foundational member of our new Solar & Deployables hardware group, serving as technical owner of the photovoltaics pillar. Starting from Muon's platform building blocks, you'll tailor designs to mission requirements, partner closely with solar cell vendors and manufacturers, and make key decisions that balance power performance, reliability, cost, and schedule.

Due to the hands-on nature of this role, it requires onsite work at our San Jose, CA location three days a week.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical owner for photovoltaic systems — cells, encapsulation, and array electrical architecture — for assigned missions
• Lead solar cell selection and qualification, including procurement specifications, screening, and radiation/thermal performance characterization
• Build and manage partnerships with solar cell vendors and manufacturers, from cell procurement through co-development of array assemblies
• Define array electrical architecture: string sizing, blocking/bypass diode strategy, grounding and bonding, and layout
• Optimize total system efficiency — trading mass, power, and cost at the array and spacecraft level
• Develop and maintain array performance predictions (BOL/EOL, radiation degradation, thermal derating) and reconcile them against test and on-orbit data
• Own encapsulation, lamination, and bonding processes for panel assembly; partner with manufacturing on work instructions, tooling, and yield improvements
• Own array and coupon qualification, including environmental test (vibration, TVAC, thermal cycling) and acceptance data packages
• Work with mechanical, structural, and thermal engineers to iterate array designs for performance and manufacturability; support make vs. buy decisions
• Document and champion photovoltaics best practices and design standards; contribute to design reviews (PDR, CDR, MRR)
• Mentor junior engineers and technicians, and drive arrays to scale from prototype builds to constellation quantities

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience designing, building, and testing high-reliability hardware, including 5+ years with solar arrays or photovoltaic systems
• Strong understanding of solar cell physics, with hands-on experience across single, double, and triple junction cells
• Hands-on experience with one or more of: space solar cell selection/screening, encapsulation/lamination, or array electrical design
• Working knowledge of array performance prediction (BOL/EOL, radiation and thermal effects) and power budgeting
• Experience with array or coupon qualification, including environmental test (TVAC, vibration, thermal cycling)
• Strong systems-level thinking across electrical, mechanical, thermal, and power domains
• Strong skills with drawings, GD&T, BOMs, and mass/power budgets; proficiency with standard tools (CAD, PLM, test equipment)
• Extensive documentation capabilities: build procedures, test plans, design trades
• Experience working with external vendors for part development and manufacturing
• Excellent communication, presentation, and cross-functional coordination skills
• B.S. or higher in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or related field

Nice-to-have Skills

• Flight heritage — solar array hardware you designed that has successfully operated in space
• Direct experience with IMM space solar cells and coverglass selection
• Experience with array electrical modeling and radiation-degradation methods (e.g., EQFLUX / displacement damage dose)
• Experience defining or running in-house panel lamination processes
• Familiarity with grounding, bonding, and ESD/arcing mitigation for high-voltage arrays
• Experience with array substrate/panel mechanical design and integration with deployables
• Software skills in Python, MATLAB, or similar

Salary

The salary range for this role is $183,000- $198,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.

About Muon Space

Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.

Taking Care of Our Team

• medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401k retirement plan
• short & long term disability
• life insurance
• three weeks paid vacation for new employees
• 12 paid holidays
• unlimited sick time
• paid parental leave

At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package.

Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too. Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We value diversity in the workplace, and that starts with our applicants. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check all the boxes, and we look forward to reviewing your application! In addition, if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

ITAR/EAR Requirements

This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.