Staff Equipment Engineer

T1 Energy Inc.; Rockdale (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

T1 Energy Inc. is seeking a Staff Equipment Engineer for our G2 solar cell fab in Rockdale, Texas. You will own equipment engineering and maintenance for your assigned tool group and set the standard for uptime in a high-volume manufacturing environment.

You’ll lead preventive and predictive maintenance, mentor engineers, and partner with Process, Facilities, and EHS teams to keep tools safe, reliable, and within specification while ramping new equipment and upgrades.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in equipment engineering and maintenance within semiconductor, solar, or advanced manufacturing.
• Hands-on experience with multi-platform toolsets including wet process, diffusion/thermal, CVD/ALD, and metallization.
• Proven track record building and managing preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Strong understanding of OEE metrics and systematic reliability improvements.
• Experience setting maintenance standards and mentoring engineers or technicians.

Responsibilities

• Own equipment engineering and maintenance for your assigned tool group at the G2 fab.
• Set maintenance and troubleshooting standards; mentor the equipment engineers and maintenance technicians.
• Establish preventive and predictive maintenance programs to maximize uptime.
• Drive installation, qualification, and acceptance for new tools and upgrades.
• Own spare parts strategy and vendor coordination for rapid responses.
• Monitor and improve OEE across your toolset; identify downtime contributors.
• Lead root cause analysis for equipment failures and implement corrective actions.
• Partner with Process, Facilities, and EHS teams to ensure safe tool operation.
• Engage vendors on failures, modifications, and hardware improvements.
• Support fab ramp activities, including tool installation and operator training.

Skills

Equipment engineering

Maintenance strategy

OEE improvement

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical/Electrical Engineering

Tools

CVD/ALD tooling

Diffusion & Thermal tooling

Semiconductor tooling

Job description

T1 Energy is bringing solar manufacturing back to the U.S. by building a domestic solar supply chain. Our mission is to invigorate America with scalable, reliable, and low-cost energy. Our fully operational 5GW solar module facility in Wilmer, Texas, can manufacture more than 20,000 modules every 24 hours. By the time you finish reading this paragraph, we will have produced two solar panels that will power American homes and fuel domestic AI. We're focused on building advanced American manufacturing and we're passionate about engineering a better future filled with abundant energy.

The Role

T1 Energy is looking to hire Staff Equipment Engineers to own equipment engineering and maintenance for the major tool groups at our G2 solar cell fab in Rockdale, Texas. This is a senior technical role for someone who has worked in complex multi-platform equipment environments in high-volume manufacturing and knows how to keep critical tools running at peak performance. You’ve built maintenance programs, set the standard other engineers work to, and know what it means to own uptime in a production environment where downtime is never acceptable. You’re equally comfortable reviewing an OEE dashboard and getting hands‑on with a tool that’s down.

This is a single posting covering four tool groups: wet process, thermal, deposition, and screen printing and test You’ll be assigned to the group that matches your depth, and you’ll be expected to work across the others as the ramp demands. Staff here means technical depth rather than headcount: you won’t have direct reports, but you will set the standard the engineers and technicians around you work to.

What You’ll Do

• Own equipment engineering and maintenance for your assigned tool group at the G2 solar cell fab.
• Set the maintenance and troubleshooting standard for your area, and mentor the equipment engineers and maintenance technicians working on your tools.
• Establish and manage preventive and predictive maintenance programs that maximize equipment uptime and reliability.
• Drive installation, qualification, and acceptance for new tools and upgrades.
• Own spare parts strategy and inventory for your toolset, and work with vendors to ensure rapid response to equipment issues.
• Monitor and improve OEE across your toolset, identifying chronic downtime contributors and driving systematic resolution.
• Lead root cause analysis for equipment failures and implement corrective actions that stick.
• Partner with Process, Facilities, and EHS teams to ensure tools operate safely, cleanly, and within specification.
• Engage equipment vendors at a technical level on failures, modifications, and hardware improvements that increase uptime.
• Support fab ramp activities, including tool installation, qualification, and operator training.

Who You Are

• An experienced equipment engineer who has owned multi-platform toolsets in a semiconductor, solar, or advanced manufacturing environment.
• Deeply knowledgeable about maintenance strategy, equipment reliability, and OEE improvement.
• The engineer others bring a problem to after they’ve already tried everything.
• Systematic and thorough in your approach to equipment programs; nothing runs on luck under your watch.
• Calm and decisive when tools go down and production is waiting.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of equipment engineering and maintenance experience in a semiconductor, solar cell, or advanced manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated hands‑on experience in multi-platform equipment environments, including wet process, diffusion and thermal, CVD and ALD, metallization, and related toolsets.
• Proven track record building and managing preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Strong understanding of OEE metrics and systematic approaches to equipment reliability improvement.
• Experience setting maintenance standards and mentoring equipment engineers or maintenance technicians.
• Hands‑on experience with equipment installation, qualification, and vendor management.
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field preferred.

The T1 Way

We move fast, expect accountability, and treat people with respect. We also have a no‑jerks policy: we don't tolerate big egos, bad behavior or "that’s not my job attitude". Be sharp, be honest, be human. If you can hold the line and have a sense of humor, you’ll fit right in.

T1 Energy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants and do not discriminate on the basis of any legally protected characteristics.