Lead, Solar Manufacturing Engineering

The Role  

As the owner of all solar manufacturing, you will take breakthrough designs and turn them into flight ready hardware with speed, precision, and repeatability. You will own the full manufacturing ecosystem from the solar cell through fully integrated arrays, and the tooling and automation that makes them possible. 

You’ll build and lead a world class Solar Manufacturing Engineering team and be accountable for how solar hardware moves from early development through production and delivery. This role spans major design evolution and production scale up, requiring both deep technical judgement and strong leadership to create manufacturing systems that are robust, efficient, and built to last. 

You’ll partner early and often with Design, Quality, Supply Chain, and Production, shaping designs before they are locked and ensuring manufacturing is a core driver of cost, schedule, and reliability. The manufacturing systems you create will set the pace for how fast we build, how far we scale, and how confidently we fly. 

Responsibilities  

• Build and lead a world-class Solar Manufacturing Engineering team – hire, mentor, and develop experts in process engineering, tooling design, build reliability, and automation 

• Own the manufacturing and production process for solar modules, integrated photovoltaic arrays, deployment mechanisms, and mechanical structures, including the integration of these components into flight ready solar wings and the tooling and automation that enable scalable production 

• Oversee solar module manufacturing through a large design overhaul 

• Develop assembly flows, tooling requirements, build sequencing, and process documentation that make flawless execution repeatable 

• Partner early with design teams to drive design-for-manufacturing and ensure our solar array wings, deployment mechanisms, structures, and modules are as producible as they are revolutionary 

• Source and qualify the manufacturing equipment, tooling, and automation that give us speed and precision 

• Work with Quality, Supply Chain, and Production to resolve issues, maintain schedule, and hit delivery targets 

• Represent manufacturing engineering in design reviews, readiness reviews, and with customers 

  

Qualifications   

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, manufacturing, aerospace, or related engineering field  

• 1+ years of experience leading and/or managing large teams on technically complex projects throughout the development and build process 

• 4+ years of solar manufacturing or solar responsible engineering experience 

• Experience leading projects through prototype builds, design iterations, and scaling to production 

• Experience creating clear, effective process documentation and tooling designs 

• Track record of managing vendors, suppliers, and strategic technical partners to deliver on time and per specification  

• A history of implementing DFM that meaningfully reduced cost, improved quality, and sped up delivery 

  

Nice to Have  

• Background in high-volume or highly automated manufacturing environments 

• Experience with precision alignment, metrology, and electromechanical systems  

• Experience ramping production rate from early-stage production to full rate 

• Exposure to ATP campaigns 

• Active Top Secret or DoD Secret clearance with SAP eligibility 

 

Compensation and Benefits:   

• Base salary range for this role is $145,000 - $200,000 + equity in the company  

• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level