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Principal Solar Process Engineer

K2 Space· Mechanical
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Los Angeles, CA$175k - $200kFull-timePosted 5mo ago

About the role

Role focused on defining and scaling manufacturing processes for K2’s solar array systems, driving material characterization, qualification, and production-scale implementation to supports high-rate production of solar arrays for spacecraft.

Responsibilities

  • Responsible for the development, qualification, and production-scale optimization of K2’s solar array processes — including solar module interconnects, bonding, sintering, lamination, deposition, coating, bonding, mechanism joints, and surface treatment
  • Research, evaluate, and select conventional and novel processes for solar array applications, driving trades that balance performance, manufacturability, cost, reliability, and schedule
  • Design and execution of structured DOE and statistical analyses to diagnose manufacturing problems and validate corrective actions
  • Use a first-principle, physics-based characterization across production processes to identify sources of variation and opportunities for yield improvement
  • Lead failure analysis, defect characterization, and root causes investigations for process related anomalies
  • Establish and drive corrective action plans back into design requirements and production
  • Own the evaluation, cost/benefit analysis, and selection of manufacturing equipment for all in-house process development
  • Collaborate with the production team to develop process specifications, work instructions, in-process checkouts, and end-of-line tests
  • Define qualification criteria, test envelopes, and characterization campaigns to establish resultant performance across radiation, thermal cycling, mechanical, and plasma environments
  • Partner with solar structures/mechanisms, thermal, avionics, and production teams to define manufacturing process-driven requirements, integrated qualification/acceptance testing, and on-orbit data review
  • Collaborate with leadership on staffing plans, role definitions, and recruiting efforts to ensure the solar array team is appropriately staffed to meet system deliverables
  • Mentor engineers and establish institutional process knowledge and best practices for solar array hardware at production scale

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in materials science, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, aerospace engineering, or a related technical discipline
  • 8+ years of experience in materials and process engineering, with demonstrated depth in material selection, characterization, qualification, and production-scale process development
  • Demonstrated track record of material and process decisions that have been validated through flight or equivalent high-reliability hardware programs

Skills

Required:Materials selectionCharacterization and qualificationDOE and statistical analysisRoot cause analysisProject collaboration and leadership

Benefits

  • Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks
Last updated Aug 26, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About K2 Space

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