Device Engineer

About Us

At Active Surfaces, our mission is bold: to unlock clean energy in places traditional solar can't reach. Our technology, born from nearly a decade of materials science research at MIT, enables ultra-lightweight, flexible solar modules that install on rooftops, walls, and industrial surfaces once considered off-limits. With our platform, the built environment itself becomes a source of clean power.

Since our founding, we've rapidly emerged as one of the most exciting startups in climate tech, merging breakthrough science with advanced manufacturing. Backed by leading global investors and strategic partners — including J-POWER, Sabancı, and Lendlease — and having already deployed a paid pilot with a Fortune 500 partner, we're scaling quickly to support a growing pipeline of deployments and commercial opportunities through 2028.

We're expanding our team to support this next phase of rapid growth. These key hires will join a world-class group with deep expertise in semiconductor and perovskite research, roll-to-roll manufacturing, and commercial leadership across the energy sector.

Let's be direct about what this is. We're a small team taking on a genuinely hard problem—and we hire accordingly. This is a high-intensity, early-stage environment where the pace is fast and the work you do is load-bearing: it directly determines whether we scale or we fail. We look for people who hold themselves to an exceptionally high bar, want deep ownership, and are energized rather than daunted by the ambiguity of tough problems. The work is demanding; the upside—in impact, in career growth, and in equity—is meant to match it. Few people get to materially change whether clean energy reaches places solar never could. If that's the room you want to be in, you'll be surrounded by people who feel the same.

How we work:

• Tackle hard problems first — we front-load the hardest work to minimize wasted iteration cycles and accelerate learning.
• Stay curious and creative — we thrive in ambiguity and push the boundaries of innovation and are always questioning the status quo.
• Thrive on feedback — we use it to grow quickly, as individuals and as a team - to make ourselves and our products better.
• Act today, not tomorrow — we move with urgency and a bias toward action, after all, climate change isn't slowing down.
• Trust the team and be trustworthy — we communicate openly and show up reliably for one another. We strive to make all our contributions perfect so that our peers and colleagues can do the same.

If you hold yourself to that bar and want to shape the future of solar alongside us, we want to meet you.

About the Job

As a Device Engineer, you will be a key player in our Engineering Team efforts to advance solar thin-film devices. Your expertise in thin-film semiconductor materials, preferably in perovskites and organic photovoltaics (OPVs), will be vital in driving the development of our next-generation solar products. Reporting to the the Founder & Chief Technology Officer (CTO), you will take a leading role in developing, testing and vetting semi-conductor materials, to be integrated into our solar device products.

Above all else, we value someone who is a quick, enthusiastic learner, creative problem solver and willing to push the bounds of what would normally be considered ‘standard’. As our company quickly grows its technical capabilities, we are looking for a team member who can grow and scale with us!

This role is eligible for visa sponsorship and relocation. This job will be located full-time on site in Woburn, MA at our Headquarters and Manufacturing Development site.

Responsibilities

• Conduct engineering optimization research and development activities to drive the innovation of next-generation solar thin-film devices

• Prototype, test, and optimize semiconductor device architectures; semiconductor, metallic and dielectric thin-film materials, leveraging your expertise in thin-film, with a focus on Perovskites and OPVs and relevant additional materials systems

• Prototype, test and optimize semiconductor and metallic and dielectric thin-film materials on novel manufacturing processes

• Test and integrate new materials into working, high efficiency devices and vet overall manufacturing compatibility by determining acceptable process windows to maintain quality standards.

• Work closely with the rest of the Engineering Team to ensure successful integration of improvements into all research and manufacturing workflows.

• Analyze and interpret experimental data to guide decision-making and identify areas for improvement.

• Assist in the scaling-up of promising materials for manufacturing and commercialization.

• Be data driven, experimentally rigorous and not rely on speculation to guide decision making and a willingness to hold peers to the same.

Requirements

• M.S., Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry or a related field with a strong track record directly driving projects forward in a team environment

• 5-6 years of hands-on, direct wet bench, experience in semiconductor device engineering, preferably in the field of solar energy, optoelectronics, or semiconductor device design (or a strong desire to learn)

• Strong background in thin-film semiconductor technology and experience in the manufacturing, characterization and optimization of solar cells or similar single heterojunction devices (e.g. OPVs, OLEDs, TFTs, or thin-film sensors)

• Extensive laboratory experience, adept at planning and conducting experiments, analyzing data, designing experiments following proper scientific protocols and a strong track record of self driving optimization.

• Experience working with a wide variety of scientific and engineering analysis tools used in optoelectronic thin-film device optimization (SEM, TEM, Powder XRD, GIWAX, AFM, XPS, PLQE, TRPL, UV-Vis, Fluorescence, Bright and Dark Field Microscopy, and a variety of electrical measurements). Experience with setting up and understanding limits of these techniques is preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to work with multiple materials and openness to exploring new material systems and manufacturing methods.

• Passionate about innovation and able to bring creativity to the development of solar devices. A willingness to question commonly held beliefs and drive innovation even if it is 'against the grain'.

• Eager to contribute and learn in a collaborative and dynamic and fast paced start-up environment.

• Six-Sigma certification and a strong, almost perfectionist attitude toward maintaining controls and reducing process variation.

Bonus Points

• Expertise in perovskite solar cells and/or organic photovoltaics (OPVs).

• Experience with R2R coating technology (slot-die, blade coating or related)

• Experience with cleanrooms, gloveboxes, vacuum equipment and an array of nanoparticle chemistry techniques

• Experience in using laser spectroscopy or building spectroscopic systems for studying and improving optoelectronic materials and systems

• Experience with various coding languages (Python, MATLAB, LabView) along with knowledge or willingness to learn R+D electrical system control and scripting (eg. Keithley 2400/2600 GPIB (IEEE-488), Ethernet or USB control)

• A willingness to ‘tinker’, or experiment to drive value and generate new ideas

• Experience with setting electrical breadboard test systems

• Experience with prototyping hardware (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32) or PLCs using IEC 61131-3 standard languages

• Experience with mechanical design (Solidworks, Autodesk, OnShape) and prototyping (3D Printing or basic metal machining or CAM)

• Experience with electrical layout (Altium, KiCad)

Performance Bonus

All full-time employees are eligible for an annual performance bonus of up to 50% of base salary , assessed and dispersed every six months. The structure is intentionally non-linear — top performers earn disproportionately more, and we want it that way. This isn't stack-ranked: if everyone is exceptional, everyone earns at the top. Your individual contribution is the primary driver, with additional bonuses tied to both department and company outcomes. If you're a top performer, this is where we want that to pay off. Consistent high performance also influences base salary increases, with similar non-linear structures — so the compounding effect over time is significant, and can result in very quick salary and professional growth.

Base salary offers are given based on the experience level of the candidate but applicants should expect base salary levels in-line with their experience level for the Boston area. We are willing to hire multiple exceptional candidates with this posting.

Perks

• Top-tier health, dental and vision insurance (75% covered)

• 15 days vacation (20 once seniority is reached). Unlimited sick leave

• Commute reimbursement (75%)

• Wellness program ($50/month)

• Cell Phone Reimbursement ($50/month)

• 401K Matching (up to 5%)

• Equity + re-ups based on performance