Development Engineer III

Development Engineer III

First Solar reserves the right to offer you a role most applicable to your experience and skillset.

• Perform material and device research to enhance thin film solar cell performance and stability and to reduce manufacturing cost.
• Responsible for projects or functions that are highly complex require significant innovation and are critical to department objectives.
• Plan, execute and characterize development engineering experiments in the laboratory and manufacturing environment with strategic foresight. Drives actions with strategic foresight.
• Apply statistical and engineering methods to optimize organizational effectiveness. Improve methods for use by others.

• Bachelor’s Degree in an engineering discipline or similar technical discipline and 10 years of relevant technical experience or 2 years of experience as a Development Engineer II at First Solar.
• Master’s Degree in materials science, chemistry, physics or engineering discipline and 8 years of relevant technical experience or 2 years of experience as a Development Engineer II at First Solar.
• Ph.D. in materials science, chemistry, physics or engineering discipline and 5 years of relevant technical experience or 2 years of experience as a Development Engineer II at First Solar.

• Hands-on experience and expertise in a materials characterization laboratory environment.
• Extensive hands-on experience with XPS, SEM, or SIMS, including instrument operation, troubleshooting, and method development is required.
• Proven ability to use material characterization data (e.g., XPS, ToF-SIMS, AFM, SEM, TEM) to drive improvements in development processes.
• Experience developing new characterization methods.
• Experience in evaluating surface properties and interfacial interactions in thin film devices.
• In depth knowledge of thin film CdTe and/or perovskite PV technology is preferred.
• Strong sense of project ownership with hands-on and can-do attitude.
• Strong communication skills and teamwork across organizations.

• Effective communicator with internal and external partners and customers. Effective team members that can support cross-functional projects and take ownership of sub-deliverables.
• Prepare and analyze samples using relevant analytical instrumentation to evaluate material properties.
• Interpret analytical data from multiple surface sensitive techniques (e.g., XPS, SIMS, SEM, AFM) and apply learnings to problem solving issues during project development.
• Translate the results into an actionable item for the customer to drive improvements in a process or product.
• Generate high quality technical reports and presentations to communicate results and recommendations to the customer.
• Identify opportunities for improvements in solar cell efficiency, material selection and process/equipment design through engineering, scientific or empirical methods.
• May be responsible to determine and evaluate material specification for improved performance. May be responsible to determine and evaluate tool/equipment specifications.
• May train, mentor and manage junior and peers on specific subject matters.
• Comply with Company's Environmental, Quality, Safety or any other policies that have been enforced. Contributes to continuous improvement of said policies.
• Other duties as assigned.
• Job description subject to change at any time.

• Reports to Development Manager.
• May have direct reports.

• 0% - 5% (On occasion/as needed for training, etc.)

• Will sit, stand or walk short distances for up to the entire duration of a shift.
• Will climb stairs on an occasional basis.
• Will lift, push or pull up to 37 pounds on an occasional basis.
• Required to use hands to grasp, lift, handle, carry or feel objects on a frequent basis.
• 20/40 vision in both eyes together, with or without correction, is required.
• Must be able to comply with all safety standards and procedures.
• May reach above shoulder heights and below the waist on a frequent basis.
• May stoop, kneel, or bend, on an occasional basis.
• Ability to wear personal protective equipment is required (including but not…