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Physical Engineering & DesignNew York, NYFull Time

Chief Cell Technologist, PV Systems

New York, NY · San Francisco, CA · Los Angeles; CA · Austin, TX · Seattle, WAOnsite

About Fluidstack

Technology is the most important tool humans have found for improving the human condition, but it is not a default good. It is a lever for ideology.

Today the most powerful technology in history is being built: machines that solve problems better than humans can. The most important mission of our generation is to imbue AI with democratic values: error-correcting institutions, freedom of speech, individual liberties. AI trains and runs on massive compute clusters. Whichever ideology builds the infrastructure the fastest is the ideology that will endure. Democracy is delicate and won't survive this technology by default.

We hire people who care deeply about this problem space. If that is you, please apply!

How We Operate

  • Be a barrel. Full autonomy. Own things end to end, take on scope without being asked, no permission required to operate outside your core role.

  • Insane urgency. We drive everything forward as fast as possible.

  • Reason from first principles. Challenge every assumption. Zero analogy thinking, no egos, the best idea wins.

  • Love of the game. The frontier of AI is the most interesting problem of our time. We put in long hours at high intensity to push the frontier forward.

  • Build something that actually matters. If you're going to spend your time, spend it on something that matters to the world.

The Product Engineering, Photovoltaics (PV) Team

The PV Product Engineering team is building a captive photovoltaic supply chain to power gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure, starting at the cell.

Examples of key problems the team is working on:

  • Select and commit to a silicon cell architecture (TOPCon, HJT, or back-contact) and the efficiency and cost trajectory that decision locks in for years.

  • Build the loss-analysis and efficiency entitlement framework that tells every process and device engineer where the next basis point of efficiency comes from.

  • Stand up pilot line partnerships and a technology transfer path from pilot to production that survives contact with a real fab.

  • Set cell procurement specs and co-engineer with suppliers so the buildout keeps moving while our own line comes up.

Role Scope

  • Own the selection of Fluidstack's cell architecture (TOPCon, HJT, or back-contact) and the technology roadmap behind it, with an efficiency and cost trajectory you can defend to a CEO and a fab partner alike.

  • Build the loss-analysis framework and efficiency entitlement model, decomposed across recombination, optical, and resistive losses, rigorous enough that every process and device engineer knows exactly where their next basis point comes from.

  • Direct the technical agenda of the process, device physics, and characterization teams in partnership with the PV Cell Engineering Lead, setting priorities that close real gaps to entitlement.

  • Scope and manage pilot line partnerships, and own the technology transfer strategy from pilot to production, including the make-vs-partner call.

  • Set cell procurement specs and drive supplier co-engineering while our own line comes up, so the cells we buy meet the same bar as the cells we intend to build.

What We're Looking For

The below is a starting point. We always make space for exceptional people, so if you don't fit this role exactly, tell us where you would.

  • 15+ years in silicon PV cell technology, with at least one cell architecture (TOPCon, HJT, or back-contact) taken from concept to production efficiency targets, and the roadmap behind it owned by you.

  • You've built and defended a full loss budget across recombination, optical, and resistive losses, and closed real gaps to entitlement on a shipping cell.

  • You've led process transfers from pilot to production and know firsthand what breaks, from tool matching to yield collapse.

  • You hold published or patented depth in passivation, contacts, or device design.

  • You've directed multi-disciplinary cell R&D teams spanning process, device physics, and characterization, and set their technical priorities.

  • You can commit to an efficiency and cost trajectory and defend it under pressure, to a CEO and a fab partner alike.

  • Bonus: SunPower/Maxeon, Fraunhofer ISE, ISC Konstanz, or UNSW lineage, FEOC-clean supply chain exposure, back-contact architecture depth, or pilot line buildout experience.

We are committed to pay equity and transparency.

Fluidstack is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans’ status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Fluidstack will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to applicable law.

You will receive a confirmation email once your application has successfully been accepted. If there is an error with your submission and you did not receive a confirmation email, please email careers@fluidstack.io with your resume/CV, the role you've applied for, and the date you submitted your application-- someone from our recruiting team will be in touch.

Compensation

$208K – $263K • Offers Equity

Ready to help build civilization-scale infrastructure for AI?

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