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Tandem PV

Senior Thin-film Solar Vacuum Engineer

Tandem PV, San Jose, California, United States,


At Tandem PV we are a team of people who are passionate about building a more sustainable world by bringing more cost effective solar panels onto the market. We’re scaling metal-halide perovskite solar technology to make best-in-class mechanically stacked tandem modules.

We have built efficient, durable cells, monolithic multi-cell submodules, and packaged modules with our scalable, low-cost process. Our next focus is expanding our team, acquiring production tools, and building a pilot manufacturing facility. Sounds like a lot, right? It is, and that’s why we need you to join the team!

In this critical role, you will work with a team of engineers and technicians in our R&D laboratory to execute and develop vacuum deposition processes.

You will be working with a wide variety of equipment, keeping everything running smoothly mechanically, operationally, and scientifically.

You will interface directly with colleagues on other teams to develop and execute experimental plans.

To be great at this role, you will have:

A can-do attitude: To be a bit corny, you blaze a trail where there is none, rather than identify obstacles for others to clear.Comfort with uncertainty: You will often be operating in an environment requiring autonomy in judgment and action, and will need to identify, communicate, and execute on a plan of your own.Flexibility: You have broad capabilities in the laboratory and can flex in several directions (at once, if need be) to solve multifaceted problems that defy disciplinary boundaries.An interest in learning: If you don’t know anything about our product, but want to live in a better world and put your scientific or engineering background to use, we may have a place for you.A goal-oriented mindset: You come to work to achieve objectives, not check off items on a list.

You’re focused on getting your work product past the goalpost, and you don’t put it down until you’ve done that.Pride in your work: You clean up after yourself; you take an extra few minutes to label or tidy or otherwise organize your space; you want to “do it right.”Communication skills: You can give a deep dive on an issue in the lab, or you can give a headline because your colleague is in a hurry.

You are comfortable presenting to a group; you can balance frankness with tact and kindness.To be effective in this role, we expect that your background includes:

Hands-on experience with vacuum deposition equipment: You are comfortable with process development, troubleshooting and maintenance, and vacuum hardware, especially in the context of physical vapor deposition (thermal evaporation, sputtering, etc.) or chemical vapor deposition (PECVD, LPCVD, ALD, etc.).

To be considered for the “Senior” role, we expect you have had over five years of experience in this context.Subject-matter knowledge in photovoltaics, or better yet, thin-film photovoltaics, such as CIGS, OPV, CdTe, or ideally metal halide perovskites, specifically connecting material properties and device performance.

Applicants without such knowledge are also encouraged to apply, but will be expected to connect their subject matter knowledge with our work.Scientific or research experience with designing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, preparing reports, and giving oral presentations.Digital literacy and fluency: You are comfortable with routine engineering computing tasks, and can write code to make plots, charts, and figures; you are obviously proficient in Microsoft Office or similar productivity suites.

Tandem PV’s benefits include:

Flexible PTOComprehensive healthcare/dental/vision coverageLife insuranceParental leaveGenerous stock option planA company-sponsored 401(k) plan

Who we are:

Tandem PV uses perovskite & silicon mechanically-stacked tandems to upgrade silicon solar panels, sharply decreasing installed systems costs, significantly increasing module manufacturing profit margins, and opening up vast new solar markets in the US and worldwide. TPV was co-founded by Stanford PhDs Colin Bailie and Chris Eberspacher; is advised by industry experts from Corning, First Solar, Vivint Solar, and Kateeva; has raised more than $15M in private funding; and has been awarded $8M in R&D grants from the Department of Energy, California Energy Commission, etc.

We are a team of people who are passionate about building a more sustainable world by delivering a new generation of solar panels to the market. We are constantly growing and are always looking for dedicated, hardworking, and empathetic teammates.

Tandem PV is a diverse, equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.

Job Type: Full-time Pay: $105,000.00 - $160,000.00 per year