Supplier Development Engineer, Photovoltaics (Starlink)

About the role

SpaceX’s Starlink User Terminal business is experiencing exponential growth, requiring a highly resilient and scalable supply chain for solar cells, wafers, ingots, and polysilicon to support high‑volume photovoltaic module production. The Supplier Development Engineer, Photovoltaics will engage early in supplier and equipment selection, drive end‑to‑end supplier development, and own manufacturing bring‑up across the photovoltaic supply chain. The position is based in Bastrop, TX, on‑site, full‑time, and classified as a mid‑level role.

Responsibilities

• Own end‑to‑end supplier development and manufacturing bring‑up for the photovoltaic supply chain within the Starlink User Terminal Bill of Materials, spanning polysilicon, ingots, wafers, solar cells, and module integration.
• Engage early with suppliers on selection, equipment selection, and process engineering to properly set up high‑volume manufacturing programs by ensuring material and process corners are fully characterized and completed.
• Lead the bring‑up of solar cell manufacturing lines while also supporting upstream wafer, ingot, and polysilicon supply chain development to enable high‑volume module output.
• Assess supplier manufacturing capabilities with strong emphasis on solar cell fabrication processes including texturing, diffusion, passivation, anti‑reflective coating, metallization, and cell testing, along with upstream silicon material processes.
• Lead new product introduction (NPI) activities, production part approval process (PPAP), first article inspections (FAI), production rate ramps, and qualification campaigns to enable full‑rate, high‑volume manufacturing.
• Develop and execute robust qualification plans covering polysilicon purity, ingot quality, wafer specifications, solar cell efficiency, reliability, and overall module performance.
• Implement artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for process control, defect detection, yield optimization, and predictive analytics in solar cell manufacturing.
• Create and standardize qualification protocols across the supply base, including equipment buy‑off checklists, factory acceptance tests (FAT), site acceptance tests (SAT), and consistent reliability demonstration methods.
• Drive supplier performance improvement through Lean methodologies, supplier scorecards, process audits, and systematic problem solving to deliver measurable gains in quality, yield, cost, and on‑time delivery.
• Perform reactive quality engineering support, including rapid containment, root cause analysis using eight‑discipline (8D) and five‑why (5‑Why) methodologies, and corrective actions for quality escapes, field returns, and production issues.
• Own on‑time delivery of qualification and production ramp activities while continuously monitoring field performance, reacting quickly to issues, and feeding lessons learned from field data back to design and process engineering teams for iterative product and process improvement.
• Partner closely with Solar Cell Design Engineering, Process Engineering, Test Engineering, and Production teams to ensure supplier processes and manufacturing capability align with Starlink’s aggressive high‑volume product requirements and performance goals.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in materials science, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, or another engineering discipline.
• 1+ years of experience in solar photovoltaic manufacturing, crystalline silicon supply chain, or supplier development (internship and extracurricular experience is applicable).

Preferred Skills and Experiences

• 3+ years of experience in solar photovoltaic manufacturing, crystalline silicon supply chain, or supplier development.
• Strong technical background in solar cell fabrication and upstream silicon processes.
• Hands‑on experience bringing up solar cell manufacturing lines, preferably with advanced high‑efficiency technologies such as Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon), Heterojunction Technology (HJT), Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC), and Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC).
• Deep knowledge of crystalline silicon photovoltaic processes including polysilicon refining, ingot crystallization (Czochralski or directional solidification), wafer slicing, texturing, diffusion, passivation, metallization, and cell testing.
• Experience with production part approval process (PPAP), advanced product quality planning (APQP), design failure mode and effects analysis (DFMEA), and process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA).
• Strong understanding of manufacturing capability assessment, yield improvement, and scaling high‑volume photovoltaic production.
• Familiarity with industry standards such as IEC 61215, IEC 61730, and UL 1703.
• Problem‑solving skills using structured root‑cause analysis methods and statistical tools such as Minitab, design of experiments (DOE), and Six Sigma.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to distill complex technical topics into clear one‑pagers and presentations.
• Demonstrated ability to influence cross‑functional teams and suppliers in a fast‑paced, high‑growth environment.

Additional Requirements

• Ability to travel up to 30% of the time, both domestically and internationally.
• Position may require extended working hours and occasional weekends to support production ramps and critical issue resolution.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident (green card holder), a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157, an asylee under 8 U.S.C. 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.