Job Summary:As a Senior R&D Technician, Space PV Prototyping, you will work with our engineers and technicians to build prototype solar devices for spacecraft on ultrathin and flexible substrates: preparing substrates, running deposition, coating and patterning tools, laminating covers, and measuring results. Much of what you handle is a fraction of a millimeter thick and hard to replace, so careful execution, exact adherence to written procedures and meticulous records are central to the role. Your work produces the consistent, well-documented sample sets that our development and test campaigns depend on.
To be great at this role, you will have:- Clean, inspect, photograph and log substrates, and keep accurate inventory of limited, high-value materials.
- Load and run sputter and evaporation processes, including bake-outs and controlled pump-down and vent sequences.
- Coat and thermally process device layers to fixed recipes, and flag anything that looks different from previous runs.
- Set up and run laser patterning steps, then inspect the result under a microscope and measure electrical isolation.
- Laminate cover materials, including very thin ones, and inspect for voids and edge-seal quality; handle ultrathin substrates and release them from carriers once formally qualified.
- Perform routine metrology: sheet-resistance mapping, transmittance, profilometry, optical microscopy, luminescence imaging and current-voltage measurement.
- Keep run logs and per-part travelers (tools, recipes, temperatures, vacuum cycles, operator, timestamps), and prepare and ship sample batches to external test partners.
- Build, label, mount and wire coupon sets for test campaigns and exposure chambers, and perform routine tool care, including early warning when a tool starts to drift.
Qualifications:- Steady hands and patience for delicate manual work; this is the single most important qualification for the role.
- Meticulous documentation habits: detailed, legible and consistent notes of processing conditions.
- Follows written procedures exactly, and speaks up when a procedure does not match what is actually in front of you.
- Problem-solving orientation and the ability to work autonomously once trained, as part of a team in a scientific or technical environment.
- Adaptability across a wide range of laboratory tasks and willingness to learn new concepts, tools and measurements.
- Comfortable with basic laboratory arithmetic, unit conversion, and reading a specification or drawing.
- Ability to perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, including working in a cleanroom environment while wearing required PPE and gowning; working on your feet for extended periods as required by laboratory activities; occasionally lifting, carrying, or moving materials weighing up to approximately 25 pounds; and safely working in laboratory and manufacturing environments where solvents, chemicals, and Class 4 laser systems may be present. Employees will be required to follow applicable safety procedures and complete required safety training.
Preferred Experience:- Laboratory, cleanroom, semiconductor, display or precision manufacturing background, including handling thin glass, silicon wafers or display panels.
- Operation of vacuum systems, thermal evaporation or sputter deposition, solution coating (blade or slot-die), or laser tools.
- Experience in an ISO 9001, AS9100 or similarly controlled environment, or with fine assembly, soldering, precision dispensing or hermetic sealing.
This position may require access to technology and/or technical data subject to U.S. export-control laws. Any eligibility or access requirements will be applied in accordance with applicable U.S. export-control laws, regulations, licenses or authorizations, government-contract requirements, and applicable anti-discrimination laws.
