Senior Solar Process Engineer

Overview

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors with additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we are mass-producing high-power satellite platforms for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry toward mass abundance. K2 engineers satellites designed to survive harsh radiation environments and to capitalize on today’s and tomorrow’s rockets, delivering unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we’re building bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and excited about contributing to a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply.

The materials that go into K2's solar arrays—from module interconnects and adhesive systems to cover glass coatings and substrate composites—directly determine how much power they produce, how long they last, and how fast we can build them. Collaborating across the engineering and production teams, you will own the success of the materials selections and their implementations that will be key to our successful satellite operation.

You will define how K2 selects, qualifies, and scales materials and processes for its solar array systems and other subsystems. The operating environments, mission lifetimes, and production rates we are pursuing demand meaningful impact in how our materials are characterized, qualified, and manufactured. You will own the success of implementation of material systems in the development and scaling of K2’s solar array design.

• Serve as a Responsible M&P engineer for our satellite bus structures, mechanisms, thermal, electrical, and solar array systems, including adhesives, sealants, cover glass, and coatings
• Partner with experienced M&P engineers to help define the strategy and qualification philosophy for satellite materials spanning LEO to deep space mission environments
• Research, trade, and select conventional and novel materials and processes for various novel applications
• Define qualification criteria, test envelopes, and characterization campaigns that establish material performance margins across radiation, thermal cycling, mechanical, and plasma environments
• Lead design reviews, continually own system-level M&P deliverables, and drive development schedules with accurate projections looking 12+ months ahead
• Collaborate with solar, structures/mechanisms, thermal, avionics, and production teams to define material-driven requirements, integrated qualification/acceptance testing, and on-orbit data review
• Lead failure analysis and root cause investigations for material-related anomalies, establishing corrective action processes that feed back into design and production
• Evaluate, qualify, and manage material suppliers, including incoming inspection criteria, lot acceptance requirements, and supply chain risk mitigation
• Authorize, implement, and maintain M&P requirements, material and process specifications, technical specifications, and engineering work standards related to solar array materials and other spacecraft materials

• Bachelor's degree in materials science, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, aerospace engineering, or related technical discipline
• 2+ 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

• Master's degree or PhD in materials science, chemical engineering, or a related field
• Experience architecting M&P programs for solar array systems across the full development lifecycle — requirements definition, trade studies, development testing, qualification, production, and on-orbit…