Solar Cell Screen-Printing Equipment Engineer

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Bastrop (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX in Bastrop, TX, is seeking a Screen Printing Equipment Engineer for Starlink solar cell production. You will own screen printing and metallization equipment for silicon heterojunction cells at very high throughput, ensuring uptime, reliability, and scalable performance.

You will collaborate with Process Engineers to implement new requirements on existing and future platforms, drive tool availability, and lead root cause analyses.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or related technical discipline.
• 2+ years of hands‑on experience owning and maintaining screen printing or metallization equipment in a high-volume semiconductor, solar manufacturing, or related environment.
• Experience handling flammable, toxic, corrosive, and/or hazardous chemicals and materials safely (pastes, solvents, etc.)

Responsibilities

• Work with facilities and process engineering teams to install, qualify, maintain, and continuously improve high-throughput screen printing equipment for heterojunction silicon solar cell manufacturing
• Drive equipment reliability and uptime to support very large volume production with minimal downtime. Run experiments and analyze data to improve capacity (UPH), reduce tool-to-tool variation, and improve defect performance
• Develop and execute robust preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, spare parts programs, and tool matching protocols for high-volume manufacturing
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective actions on all equipment-related issues, including print heads, squeegee systems, alignment/vision systems, conveyors, drying ovens, paste delivery, and automation
• Partner closely with Process Engineers to implement new process requirements on existing and future equipment platforms
• Evaluate and select next-generation high-throughput screen printing tools capable of supporting 1GW+ per tool scale production
• Work with vendors on equipment design improvements, upgrades, and custom solutions tailored to heterojunction solar cell requirements
• Establish equipment performance metrics (OEE, MTBF, MTTR) and implement statistical process control for hardware stability
• Ensure all equipment meets cleanroom, safety, and high-reliability manufacturing standards
• Analyze production processes and machinery from a first principles, physics-based approach
• Attend meetings to communicate factory state to leadership with respect to the team’s equipment

Skills

Screen printing systems

Vision alignment

Paste handling

Drying ovens

Conveyors

Automation hardware

Equipment uptime

Heterojunction solar

Equipment installations

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Job description

SpaceX in Bastrop, TX, is seeking a Screen Printing Equipment Engineer for Starlink solar cell production. You will own screen printing and metallization equipment for silicon heterojunction cells at very high throughput, ensuring uptime, reliability, and scalable performance.

You will collaborate with Process Engineers to implement new requirements on existing and future platforms, drive tool availability, and lead root cause analyses.