Job PurposeThe Specialist, Formation & Ageing - Battery Cells will support the development, optimization, industrialization, and support of formation, ageing, grading, and end-of-line processes used in cylindrical lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing. This role plays a critical part in ensuring cell performance, safety, reliability, yield, and production efficiency through the establishment of robust and scalable manufacturing processes.
You will work closely with process engineering, cell development, production, quality, maintenance, automation, EHS, and equipment suppliers to establish robust formation and ageing processes from pilot scale through equipment qualification, process validation, and high-volume manufacturing.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities- Develop, optimize, and sustain formation, ageing, grading, and end-of-line manufacturing processes for cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells.
- Define, validate, and maintain formation recipes, including charge/discharge parameters, voltage limits, current limits, rest periods, cycle sequencing, and safety controls.
- Establish and optimize ageing strategies, including stabilization criteria, self-discharge screening, open-circuit voltage monitoring, leakage detection, and grading methodologies.
- Analyze process and test data including voltage curves, current response, capacity results, DCIR measurements, temperature profiles, OCV drift, and process performance indicators.
- Implement process improvements that enhance product quality, manufacturing yield, throughput, cycle times, operational efficiency, and cost performance.
- Support equipment selection, supplier technical reviews, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), installation, commissioning, qualification, and production startup activities.
- Develop process documentation, manufacturing standards, work instructions, control plans, alarm limits, process windows, and escalation procedures.
- Collaborate with automation, MES, data engineering, and quality teams to ensure effective traceability, recipe management, process control, and data integrity.
- Investigate and resolve process deviations, equipment issues, quality concerns, safety events, and abnormal cell performance.
- Partner with cell development, electrode manufacturing, cell assembly, electrolyte filling, quality, and product engineering teams to understand upstream process impacts on cell behavior and performance.
- Apply structured problem-solving methodologies, including Root Cause Analysis, 8D, Design of Experiments (DoE), SPC, Ishikawa, Process Capability Analysis, and Lean Manufacturing principles.
- Ensure compliance with all applicable safety, environmental, quality, electrical, fire protection, and battery manufacturing standards.
- Participate in continuous improvement initiatives supporting operational excellence and manufacturing readiness.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Battery Technology, Chemical Engineering, Automation Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical discipline required.
- Experience in lithium-ion battery manufacturing, battery testing, formation, ageing, grading, process engineering, or a comparable advanced manufacturing environment preferred.
- Experience supporting equipment qualification, process validation, production ramp-up, and continuous improvement initiatives preferred.
- Experience with high-volume manufacturing processes and automated production systems is preferred.
