Wet Etch Equipment Engineer, Solar Cells (Starlink)

Spacex; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Wet Etch Equipment Engineer for Starlink solar cell production. You will own wet chemical texturing and preclean tools in a high-volume silicon solar cell line, collaborating with process and facilities teams to maximize tool availability and performance.

You will drive reliability, run tests, and partner with vendors to implement advanced equipment capable of scaling to GW+ per tool, supporting Starlink satellites and mission objectives.

Responsibilities

• Install, qualify, maintain, and improve high-throughput texturing and pre-clean equipment for heterojunction silicon solar cell manufacturing.
• Improve capacity (UPH), reduce tool-to-tool variation, and improve defect performance through experiments and data analysis.
• Develop and execute preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, spare parts programs, and tool matching protocols for high-volume manufacturing.
• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions for equipment issues including chemical delivery, pumps, filtration, temperature control, robotics, and exhaust systems.
• Partner with Process Engineers to implement new process requirements on existing and future equipment platforms.
• Evaluate and select next-generation high-throughput texturing 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 SPC 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.

Job description

the company was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today the company is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal ofenabling human life on Mars.

WET ETCH EQUIPMENT ENGINEER, SOLAR CELLS (STARLINK)

Starlinkbelieves in providing fast, reliable internet to those that need it most. We design, build, and launch the world's largest and most advanced satellite constellation thatis capable of deliveringhigh-speed internet to even the most remote locations.

As a Wet Etch Equipment Engineer you will own the chemical processing equipment (wet chemical texturing tools, wet chemical preclean tools) used to manufacture silicon heterojunction solar cells at massive scale. You will work closely with our existing Texturing Process Engineering team to ensure world-class equipment performance, reliability, and uptime. While the process team focuses on surface morphology, light trapping, and cell efficiency, you will be the hardware owner responsible for tool availability, stability, and scaling to support our ambitious goals.

Your work will form the backbone of theStarlinknetwork (photons of sunlight in is directly proportional to photons of data out to customers!) and help provide internet to tens of millions of customers all around the world. You will spearhead state of the art production equipment for an internal solar cell production line, providing high efficiency and high-quality solar cells for both our latest generationStarlinksatellites and for Starship missions to the Moon and Mars.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Work with facilities and process engineering teams to install, qualify, maintain, and continuously improve high-throughput texturingand precleanequipment for heterojunction silicon solar cellmanufacturing

• 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 chemical delivery systems, pumps, filtration, temperature control, robotics/automation, wet benches, and exhaust/abatement systems

• Partner closely with Process Engineers to implement new process requirements on existing and future equipment platforms

• Evaluate and select next-generation high-throughput texturing 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