Wet-Process Equipment Engineer — Solar Fab (TX, On-Site)

T1 Energy Inc.; Rockdale (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

T1 Energy is building a domestic solar manufacturing campus in Wilmer, Texas with a 5GW module capacity. The new TOPCon cell fab in Rockdale, Texas seeks Equipment Engineers to own wet-process toolsets and drive high‑volume production.

This on‑site role emphasizes hands‑on work, PM optimization, and rapid problem solving to keep lines running. You’ll be responsible for OEE, MTBF, MTTR, and root-cause analyses using JMP/SQL/Python/Excel, coordinating with EHS, Process Engineering, and vendors.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, or Mechatronics Engineering, or an associate degree with equivalent hands‑on experience.
• 3+ years of hands‑on equipment engineering in semiconductor, solar, or similar high‑volume manufacturing.
• Hands‑on repair of wet bench, wet etch, wet strip, or texturing tools, including pumps, valves, heaters, filtration, and wafer handling.
• Component‑level troubleshooting from electrical schematics, pneumatic drawings, P&IDs, and PLC/HMI diagnostics.
• A track record of eliminating a chronic equipment failure, not just repairing it again.
• Safe working practice with hazardous chemicals, chemical‑compatible materials (quartz, PVDF, PTFE, PFA), and LOTO.
• Preferred: solar cell (TOPCon, PERC, or HJT) or semiconductor fab experience.
• Preferred: greenfield tool install, SAT, and ramp experience.

Responsibilities

• Own OEE, availability, MTBF, and MTTR for your toolset.
• Be first on the tool when it goes down. Make it safe, diagnose the failed component, and restore it.
• Close root cause on chronic failures, wafer breakage, and leaks using 8D, FMEA, and Pareto, and verify the fixes hold.
• Analyze alarm histories, maintenance records, and tool data in JMP, SQL, Python, or Excel to spot failure trends before they cause downtime.
• Own the PM schedule, refine vendor PM procedures, and set critical‑spares levels, then adjust both from failure history.
• Keep interlocks, leak detection, and exhaust and scrubber interfaces working on tools running HF, NaOH, and HCl. You’ll do this together with EHS.
• Work with Process Engineering on bath life, chemical change‑out, and concentration‑control hardware.
• Bring tools through install, SAT, and qualification into production. Document procedures and train the technicians who run them.

Skills

Hands-on engineering

Root-cause analysis

Decisive when tool down

Clear communicator

Chemistry handling

Education

B.S. in Mechanical/Electrical/Chemical/Mechatronics or equivalent

Associate degree with hands-on experience

Tools

JMP

SQL

Python

Excel

Job description

T1 Energy is building a domestic solar manufacturing campus in Wilmer, Texas with a 5GW module capacity. The new TOPCon cell fab in Rockdale, Texas seeks Equipment Engineers to own wet-process toolsets and drive high‑volume production.

This on‑site role emphasizes hands‑on work, PM optimization, and rapid problem solving to keep lines running. You’ll be responsible for OEE, MTBF, MTTR, and root-cause analyses using JMP/SQL/Python/Excel, coordinating with EHS, Process Engineering, and vendors.