Supplier Development Engineer, Photovoltaics (Starlink) at SpaceX
- In Bastrop, TX.
SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars. SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER, PHOTOVOLTAICS (STARLINK) Starlink User Terminal business is experiencing exponential growth across consumer, retail, enterprise, and mobility applications. This rapid expansion requires a highly resilient and scalable supply chain for solar cells, wafers, ingots, and polysilicon to support high-volume photovoltaic module production. The role entails early engagement in supplier selection, equipment selection, and process engineering to set programs up for success in high-volume manufacturing by ensuring material and process corners are fully completed. The role also includes ownership to deliver on time, monitor field performance, react to issues, and feed lessons learned back to engineering teams for iterative improvement. We are seeking a technically strong Supplier Development Engineer to drive end-to-end supplier development and manufacturing bring-up across the photovoltaic supply chain — with strong focus on solar cell fabrication as well as upstream polysilicon, ingot, and wafer supply — to enable high-volume module output. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in solar cell manufacturing processes and the ability to provide technical guidance on high-efficiency cell technologies. The Supplier Development Engineer, Photovoltaics will be responsible for executing supplier strategies focused on polysilicon, ingots, wafers, and solar cell manufacturing. This position will have significant technical influence across Starlink engineering, quality, and supply chain teams, with extreme end-to-end ownership from early engagement through production scaling and field performance. 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 disciplines (8D) and five-whys (5-Why) methodologies, and corrective actions for quality …