Space Solar Materials Engineer: Thin-Film PV & Encapsulation, Equity

Starpath Robotics; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO & health/dental/vision coverage

Job summary

Starpath is seeking a Chemical / Materials Engineer to join the Starlight Solar team in Los Angeles (Hawthorne), CA. You will work with senior chemists on chemistries behind solar cells and encapsulation, translating bench-scale chemistry into stable, reproducible manufacturing.

You will run experiments, characterize materials, and help optimize polymer encapsulation and barrier systems, contributing to environmental stability and device performance while ensuring safe lab practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, applied physics, or a related discipline
• 1+ years of hands-on experience with thin-film photovoltaic, optoelectronic, polymer, or related materials (internship and academic research applicable)
• Working knowledge of materials characterization techniques and the ability to interpret chemical, thermal, and electrical data
• Demonstrated ability to run experiments, collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions from bench work

Responsibilities

• Support development and optimization of chemistries and processes across cell materials, polymer encapsulation, and barrier systems
• Run experiments, characterize materials, and analyze data to inform chemistry and process decisions
• Build and maintain lab workflows, sample tracking, and characterization pipelines that support fast iteration
• Perform materials and device characterization using techniques such as XRD, XPS, FTIR, DSC, TGA, SEM, photoluminescence, IV, and stability/degradation testing
• Partner with senior chemists on root-cause investigations connecting chemistry to device and encapsulation performance
• Support scale-up of bench-level chemistry into stable, reproducible processes on the manufacturing line
• Contribute to environmental stability strategies - moisture, oxygen, thermal, UV, and radiation tolerance
• Maintain lab safety, chemical inventory, and contamination control practices
• Push back on unnecessary complexity - simplify chemistries, reduce process steps, and cut overhead wherever it doesn't add value

Skills

Thin-film PV materials

OPV / OLED materials

Polymer encapsulation

Materials characterization

Data analysis (Python/MATLAB)

Bench to pilot-scale processes

Lab safety & process discipline

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, applied physics

Master's degree in a relevant discipline

Tools

XRD

XPS

FTIR

DSC

TGA

SEM

AFM

IV

EQE

Job description

Starpath is seeking a Chemical / Materials Engineer to join the Starlight Solar team in Los Angeles (Hawthorne), CA. You will work with senior chemists on chemistries behind solar cells and encapsulation, translating bench-scale chemistry into stable, reproducible manufacturing.

You will run experiments, characterize materials, and help optimize polymer encapsulation and barrier systems, contributing to environmental stability and device performance while ensuring safe lab practices.