Senior PVD/PECVD Thin Film Engineer for Space Applications

Solestial; Tempe (AZ); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Excellent benefits day one

Generous PTO and holidays

401K with employer match

Disability and life insurance

Space project impact

Job summary

Solestial in Tempe, AZ, seeks a Senior Thin Film Deposition Engineer to own and advance PVD/PECVD deposition processes for space-grade solar power technologies. You will work hands-on on deposition tools, optimize processes, and collaborate with engineering and manufacturing to keep equipment running reliably.

The role requires deep experience with sputter deposition, vacuum systems, and the interaction between process and equipment, focusing on repeatability, yield, and throughput as production

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in a technical field related to materials science, engineering or physics.
• Hands-on experience with PVD and PECVD processes and equipment in manufacturing.
• Deep knowledge of thin film deposition, plasma behavior, vacuum systems and film properties.
• Experience developing, optimizing and troubleshooting deposition processes in production.
• Maintaining, troubleshooting, and modifying PVD/sputtering equipment.
• Strong understanding of vacuum components, pumps, gas delivery and measurement.
• Applied DOE and data analysis to improve process performance.
• Ability to troubleshoot issues at the intersection of process and equipment.
• Comfortable working directly with production deposition tools in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Own and optimize PVD/PECVD processes for film performance and yield.
• Develop and modify deposition processes to improve throughput and quality.
• Monitor process performance and troubleshoot excursions and variability.
• Maintain deposition equipment from process and engineering perspectives.
• Diagnose vacuum, gas delivery, power supplies, targets and chamber issues.
• Collaborate with engineering and manufacturing to minimize downtime.
• Develop process recipes, parameters and controls.
• Plan experiments and DOEs to map process windows.
• Support upgrades to deposition equipment as needs evolve.
• Analyze data to identify trends and root causes, producing documentation.

Skills

PVD and PECVD knowledge

Hands-on troubleshooting

DOE & data analysis

Vacuum systems understanding

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's in Materials Science, Chemical/Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or related field

Advanced degree a plus

Tools

PVD equipment

PECVD equipment

Vacuum systems components

Sputtering equipment maintenance

Job description

Solestial in Tempe, AZ, seeks a Senior Thin Film Deposition Engineer to own and advance PVD/PECVD deposition processes for space-grade solar power technologies. You will work hands-on on deposition tools, optimize processes, and collaborate with engineering and manufacturing to keep equipment running reliably.

The role requires deep experience with sputter deposition, vacuum systems, and the interaction between process and equipment, focusing on repeatability, yield, and throughput as production