Instrumentation & Controls Technician, Solar Cells (Starlink)

The role

The Instrumentation & Controls Technician provides hands-on support for the integration, commissioning, troubleshooting, and maintenance of automation and controls systems on solar cell production lines. This role focuses on repairs, building industrial control panels, and supporting PLC/HMI/SCADA systems to maximize uptime.

What you will do

• Support integration and commissioning of vendor/OEM equipment into SCADA software and production line controls
• Perform safe controls and electrical work within LOTO, arc-flash, and safety requirements
• Maximize uptime of automation assets through troubleshooting and repairs on electromechanical, robotic, pneumatic, and control systems
• Wire, commission, validate, build, and maintain industrial control panels and field devices
• Navigate and diagnose PLCs, HMIs, alarms, and logic behavior
• Set up, diagnose, replace, and validate sensors, instrumentation, and industrial networks
• Support controls for VFDs, servo systems, motion axes, robots, conveyors, and AGV/AMR interfaces
• Provide controls support for process-critical solar cell equipment
• Perform structured fault finding and root-cause support to minimize downtime
• Collaborate with engineers, specialists, production, and maintenance teams

Required qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalency certificate
• 2+ years of experience in a manufacturing and production environment with mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, or hydraulic systems; OR bachelor's degree in an engineering, math, or science discipline
• Must be willing to work overtime and/or weekends as needed
• Must be able to lift up to 25 lbs. unassisted
• Must be able to walk and stand for long periods of time
• Must be comfortable working in a production environment with extensive use of hazardous chemicals such as acids, alkalis, and solvents
• Must be able to wear appropriate PPE for lab and electro-chemical manufacturing environment
• Must be comfortable with climbing up and down ladders, grasping, standing, lifting, bending, pulling, pushing, stooping, stretching, carrying, crawling, and maneuvering in tight spaces
• Must be willing to train on 1st shift from 6:00 AM – 4:30 PM for initial 30 days
• Must be willing to work one or more of the following schedules: A-Shift, B-Shift, C-Shift, or D-Shift

Nice to have

• Strong working knowledge of NFPA 70, NFPA 70E, NFPA 79, and UL 508A codes
• Demonstrated hands-on skill in fault finding, structured troubleshooting, electrical panel work, multimeter use, and schematic reading
• Ability to read, interpret, and redline electrical, hydraulic, and pneumatic schematics and drawings
• PLC and HMI experience or familiarization with Beckhoff TwinCAT, Siemens TIA Portal, and/or Allen-Bradley RSLogix/Studio 5000
• Experience with electrical control panel design, building, and wiring
• Experience with sensors and instrumentation (photoeyes, proximity, pressure, vacuum, temperature, flow, encoders, vision, barcode/RFID, IO-Link)
• Experience with SCADA systems (Ignition preferred), sensors, actuators, servo drives, interlocks, production support devices, VFDs, robots, conveyors, AGVs/AMRs, and industrial networks
• Familiarity with process-critical controls, recipes, facilities/utility interfaces, hazardous gas/chemicals, cleanroom protocols, and product-protection practices
• Excellent skills in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Creative problem-solver with a high sense of urgency

About the company

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.