Director of Process Engineering
Do you have a passion for transforming cutting-edge lab inventions into rock-solid manufacturing processes? Do you thrive on optimizing complex workflows until they hum at peak efficiency? Join Rayleigh Solar Tech as the Director of Process Engineering and lead the team that will turn our innovative perovskite solar cell designs into a finely tuned roll-to-roll production operation.
At Rayleigh, we're building the lowest-cost source of clean electrons on the planet. Backed by world-class investors and a powerhouse technical team, we push the limits of deep tech to make solar radically more accessible. Our culture thrives on curiosity, urgency, and the pursuit of excellence - and we're looking for someone who shares that fire.
If you're a process engineering expert with a strategic mindset, an obsession for quality (you dream in CpK and sigma levels), and a drive to scale breakthroughs into world-changing products, we want to work with you.
What You'll Do
In this role, you'll spearhead the development and optimization of every step in our fabrication process - from initial coating trials through full-scale module assembly. You'll establish robust, high-yield processes by experimenting, analyzing data, and refining techniques to achieve unprecedented consistency and quality. Whether it's improving layer uniformity or increasing throughput, implementing real-time controls or reducing variability, you'll ensure that our manufacturing is not only fast, but flawlessly reproducible. Your work will directly enable us to deliver cutting-edge solar technology at industrial scale.
Lead the Scale-Up:
- Own the end-to-end development of sheet-to-sheet and roll-to-roll fabrication processes for Rayleigh's perovskite solar modules. You'll take lab-scale methods and relentlessly improve and iterate on them until they're ready for high-throughput manufacturing - bridging the gap from lab to fab
Optimize Every Input/Output:
- Refine coating, drying, annealing, and encapsulation processes to maximize yield, uniformity, and device performance. This means mastering countless parameters (coating speeds, injection rates, temperatures, etc.) and environmental conditions to achieve consistent film and product quality at scale. You'll conduct design-of-experiments to dial in these settings and eliminate defects, pushing our processes toward six-sigma levels of control.
Data-Driven Control
- Implement robust statistical process control (SPC) and real-time monitoring across the production line. From inline sensors to automated data dashboards, you'll ensure we measure what matters. When a process drifts or a metric starts to slip, your team catches it early and corrects course using data. Over time, you'll build AI/ML models to help predict and improve process outcomes as well.
Pioneer New Techniques:
- Stay on the cutting edge of manufacturing science. Evaluate and introduce advanced techniques and equipment - whether it's a novel deposition method, in-situ characterization tool, or an AI-driven control algorithm - to continually improve efficiency and consistency. You're not afraid to question traditional methods if a new approach could yield better results.
Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Work hand-in-hand with the Equipment Engineering Director to ensure our processes and machines are in perfect harmony. If a process needs a custom equipment tweak, you'll specify it; if a tool has certain capabilities, you'll exploit them fully in the process. You'll also interface with the R&D (materials/science) team to translate material breakthroughs into scalable process recipes, and with the quality/reliability team to bake in robustness from the start.
Mentor and Grow the Team:
- Build and lead a high-performing process engineering team. You'll set clear objectives, empower engineers to run experiments and share ideas, and cultivate a culture of continuous improvement. By mentoring junior members and promoting knowledge sharing, you ensure the whole team grows into world-class experts on perovskite manufacturing.
What You Bring
Education & Experience:
- M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field. 10+ years of experience in process development and scale-up for advanced manufacturing. You've likely worked in industries like photovoltaics, semiconductors, or advanced materials, where you took a new product or technology from prototype into full production.
Thin-Film Process Mastery:
- Deep expertise in thin-film deposition and printing techniques relevant to perovskite solar cells - for example, solution processing (slot-die coating, inkjet printing), vacuum deposition, sintering/annealing processes, laser patterning, and lamination. You understand how to optimize these processes for both performance and manufacturability.
Quality & Statistical Savvy:
- Strong foundation in statistical process control, Six Sigma, and design of experiments (DOE). You've set up control charts, conducted DOEs to find optimal conditions, and are comfortable using tools like JMP, Minitab, or Python for data analysis. Variation is your enemy, and data is your weapon to defeat it.
Scale-Up Achievements
- A proven track record of scaling a process from lab to production. Perhaps you helped ramp a new production line, or transferred a process to a contract manufacturer, or overcame a major scaling challenge (like maintaining uniformity when moving from small substrates to large rolls). You know the common pitfalls when scaling (edge effects, environmental sensitivity, etc.) and how to address them.
Problem-Solving and Innovation:
- You're a creative engineer who can figure out why a process isn't working and how to improve it. Whether it's using a novel solvent mix to eliminate a coating defect or tweaking a process sequence to boost adhesion between layers, you innovate to solve problems. And you document everything so the solution becomes part of standard practice.
Leadership & Communication:
- Experience building or managing a team of engineers or scientists. You excel at breaking down big goals into manageable projects, delegating tasks, and guiding your team through complex development cycles. You communicate progress and challenges upward in a clear, honest way. When speaking with other teams or executives, you can translate technical process metrics into implications for product performance or timeline.
Passion for the Mission:
- Above all, you're motivated by the impact of bringing low-cost, clean energy to the world. The idea of leading the commercialization of a breakthrough solar technology excites you. You're willing to pour your expertise and heart into this challenge because you know how high the stakes are for our company and the planet.
Why Rayleigh?
We're not just building solar tech-we're building a movement. A world where clean energy isn't a luxury, but a given. At Rayleigh, you'll find a mission you can believe in, a team that will push you to be your best, and a culture that celebrates bold ideas, deep science, and meaningful impact.
Diversity and Inclusion
At Rayleigh, we know that diversity makes a strong team. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply for this position, and we will never discriminate against race, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, religion, marital status or family status. Instead, we work to celebrate the things that make us unique and create an inclusive environment for all employees.
Don't meet all the requirements outlined above but still find yourself excited about this position and Rayleigh's mission? If you believe that you have the skills and experience to excel in this role, we would love to see your application!
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