Senior Solar Equipment Engineer

Los Angelesfull timeOn Site

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senior

$110k–$160k

H1B: no

K2 Space Senior Solar Equipment Engineer at K2 Space owns automated equipment for manufacturing and testing solar arrays, ensuring performance and reliability. This role collaborates with engineering teams to install, qualify, and maintain solar manufacturing equipment.

Responsibilities

Critical to achieving K2's vision of deploying at scale across MEO, GEO, cis-lunar, and deep space are the solar arrays. As a Solar Equipment Engineer, you will own automated equipment critical to the ability to manufacture and test massive solar arrays at rate. You’ll work closely with process and manufacturing engineers ensuring consistent equipment performance, reliability, and uptime. Within this role you will be responsible for coordinating and executing the installation, qualification, and sustaining the mechanical and electrical systems of our solar manufacturing equipment.
Collaborate with the facilities and process engineers to install, qualify, maintain, and continually improve solar array manufacturing equipment
Own equipment reliability and uptime; design, execute, and analyze experiments to improve within tool process variance, tool to tool performance variance, and defect performance
Develop and execute robust preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, spare parts programs, and tool matching protocols
Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions within your equipment
Work with vendors and our internal automation team on equipment design improvements, upgrades, and custom solutions
Establish equipment performance metrics (OEE, MTBF, MTTR) and implement statistical process control for hardware stability
Support reporting out on factory health to process engineers and company leadership through clear documentation of equipment performance and impact on downstream process

Qualification

Bachelor's degree in physicsInternship in at least one ofFamiliarity with PLCs

Required

Bachelor's degree in physics, materials science, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, or a related technical field
Internship in at least one of: photovoltaics, power systems, semiconductor equipment, or automation
Hands-on hardware experience through internships, research, design competitions, or extracurricular projects

Preferred

Internship or research experience with solar arrays or power systems for space applications
Exposure to solar cell or module characterization techniques (IV curves, electroluminescence, flash testing)
Experience with automated equipment or subsystems such as robotics, motion control, vision systems, conveyors, or pneumatics
Familiarity with PLCs, sensors, or instrumentation, or with troubleshooting electromechanical systems
Exposure to manufacturing processes such as soldering, bonding, layup, or electromechanical assembly
Coursework or project experience in reliability engineering, failure analysis, or root cause methods (e.g., 5 Whys, fishbone, 8D)
Familiarity with statistical analysis or SPC, using Python, MATLAB, JMP, or Minitab
Experience working in cleanroom or controlled manufacturing environments, or safely handling adhesives, solvents, or other hazardous materials