---
title: 'Head of Epitaxy Program at Antora Energy'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-epitaxy-program-antora-energy-sunnyvale-y2a6xn7karek'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Head of Epitaxy Program at Antora Energy

- **Company:** Antora Energy
- **Location:** Sunnyvale, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-08-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/antora/jobs/6148687004

## Job description

Antora Energy delivers affordable, reliable energy to industry, data centers, and the grid. Our thermal batteries turn low-cost electricity into always-on heat and power, without supply-constrained critical minerals or multi-year construction timelines.

We are growing our company with people who put team and mission first, value connection through laughter and joy, and work with humility and openness. We are committed to building a diverse, passionate, and creative team dedicated to a future powered by abundant, clean, low-cost energy.

Position Summary

Antora is seeking a well-rounded, high-initiative leader with deep subject-area expertise in III-V MOCVD epitaxial growth on InP substrates to lead the thermophotovoltaic (TPV) epitaxy program end-to-end. The role involves designing epitaxy development campaigns and managing the external suppliers who execute them. This requires deep knowledge of epitaxy and materials, designs of experiment, characterization techniques, data analysis, and investigative skills. The role also requires exceptional soft skills to manage supplier relationships, provide clear instructions, negotiate timelines, pricing, and deliverables, and to work through technical and commercial issues with suppliers that arise in the course of the work. Lastly, this individual will drive the epitaxy development strategy to maximize learning speed while controlling cost. This includes driving the make-vs-buy decision on vertically integrating epitaxy R&D.

This is a unique role with the ability to shape the success of the entire TPV program, the technology at the heart of Antora’s differentiating heat-to-power conversion approach. The role reports to Antora’s Head of Heat-to-Power.

Roles & Responsibilities

- Lead multijunction TPV epitaxy development. Drive the design and development of multijunction III-V TPV device epitaxy to meet electrical, optical, and cost targets. This especially includes tunnel junctions, quaternary absorbers, quantum wells, fast growth rates, etc.
- Own technical and commercial epitaxy supplier management. Design and communicate experimental epitaxy campaigns; establish consistent calibration routines and repeatable processes; maintain data-driven specifications; negotiate timelines and pricing with suppliers; submit RFQs and POs; and manage campaign learning cycles in coordination with the device fabrication team, including data analysis and coordination of supplementary characterization (SIMS, SEM, TEM, etc.).
- Drive the make-vs-buy decision for in-house epitaxy capability. Lead this decision to a leadership-ready recommendation.
- If "make," lead facility requirements and leasing, own reactor selection and acquisition, coordinate with facilities and supply chain teams on execution, lead technical staffing, and maintain CapEx/Opex models.
- If "buy," demonstrate the viability of scaling learning-cycle rate through external partners.
- Qualify new epitaxy suppliers. Identify, engage, and qualify new epitaxy suppliers to access new capabilities, reduce supply chain risk, and increase the pace of development.
- Manage the InP substrate supply chain. Own supplier relationships and negotiate specifications and pricing to ensure substrate supply does not bottleneck epitaxial development.

## Key Qualifications

- Ph.D. or Master’s in materials science, electrical engineering, applied physics, or related field, or equivalent experience.
- 8+ years of hands-on epitaxy (esp. MOCVD) experience with arsenide/phosphide III-V materials grown on InP substrates. Fluent in epi characterization and interpretation (e.g. XRD, PL, morphology analysis, ECV, SIMS).
- Demonstrated development of tunnel junctions in As/P material systems.
- Strong device physics knowledge, especially for III-V optoelectronic devices (e.g. photovoltaics, laser diodes, LEDs, detectors). Comfort with device physics modeling tools.
- Understanding of commercial MOCVD reactor platforms and how their features impact growth science and device outcomes.
- Familiarity with the facilities and safety requirements of MOCVD installation and operation.
- Demonstrated ability to manage external contract manufacturers to deliver on quality, speed, and cost.
- Exceptional soft skills including emotional intelligence, strong and clear written and verbal communication, relationship building, negotiation and conflict management skills.
- Willingness to exercise initiative across a wide scope, tackle unfamiliar domains, find resources, and progress through uncertainty.

Additional Qualifications Desired

- Prior experience with establishing or expanding epitaxy facilities, including e.g. facility selection, reactor selection and installation, facilitization, and permitting.
- Experience building or managing epitaxy teams including e.g. scientists/engineers, technicians, EH&S, and maintenance staff.
- Experience with epitaxy equipment maintenance.
- Technoeconomic modeling of epitaxy costs, capacity planning, etc.
- Experience negotiating long-term supply agreements in the compound semiconductor industry.

Work Location:  Onsite - San Jose, CA

Salary Range:  $200,00 USD - $280,000 USD

Salary Basis:  Annual

Please note that the salary range listed above reflects Antora Energy's estimated pay for this position. The actual salary offered will be within the posted range and determined based on several factors including but not limited to a candidate's experiences, credentials and expertise, as they pertain to the position's requirements.

In addition to a competitive base salary, Antora Energy’s Total Rewards program includes equity compensation in the form of stock options, a premium health benefits package with life and disability insurance, a 401K plan with employer contributions, flexible spending accounts, and an industry leading paid-time-off policy that features flexible and inclusive holiday observance, as well as paid volunteer time off.

#LI-Onsite https://diversityjobs.com/employer/top-diversity-employers?utm_campaign=TopEmployer&utm_medium=badge  When it comes to stopping climate change, we need everyone. We believe that having a diversity of backgrounds and experiences strengthens all of us, and we strive to create an environment where every one of us is empowered to create meaningful change.

## About Antora Energy

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Antora Energy manufactures and deploys modular thermal batteries that convert low-cost, intermittent clean electricity into reliable, always-on heat and power for global industrial facilities and data centers.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B)
- **Headquarters**: San Jose, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2018
- **Founders**: Justin Briggs, Andrew Ponec, David Bierman

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Renewable Energy Power Generation, Thermal Energy Storage, Industrial Decarbonization
- **Target customers**: Large-scale industrial energy users (biofuels, refining, pulp & paper, steel & iron, chemicals, mining, concrete & lime, food & beverage) and data center operators (B2B, Enterprise).
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “We are here to power global industry with clean energy.” The company aims to make cheap, clean energy the standard that powers global industry.

## Products & Services
- **Thermal Battery System**: A modular, factory-built energy storage system that uses solid carbon (one of the safest, most stable materials on earth) to store surplus clean electricity as heat. It delivers always-on heat and power for industrial operations, scales from megawatts to gigawatts, and is designed for low cost, rapid deployment, and massive scale.
- **Project Big Stone**: One of the largest battery storage systems in the world, deployed in under 12 months for POET, the world’s largest biofuels producer. It delivers affordable, reliable energy and serves as a proof-of-concept for the company’s giga-scale deployment model.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$220.0M** across 10 rounds, including a $150M Series B led by Decarbonization Partners (Feb 2024). Annual revenue estimated at **$7.7M**.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Decarbonization Partners, National Science Foundation, California Energy Commission. Key partner: POET (biofuels).
- **Growth Signals**: 197 employees (+36.6% YoY), 31,700 LinkedIn followers (+42.9% YoY), active job postings up 140% YoY. The company is building gigawatt-hours of thermal batteries annually at its U.S. factory and has a presence in Spain.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proprietary Technology**: Uses solid carbon thermal storage—a simple, safe, and low-cost material—to provide both heat and power, differentiating from chemical battery or molten salt solutions.
- **Modular & Factory-Built**: Modules are manufactured in a U.S. factory, enabling rapid deployment, seamless integration, and operational redundancy at any scale.
- **Speed to Market**: Project Big Stone advanced from an empty lot to energy delivery in under 12 months, demonstrating a fast deployment model that can be replicated globally.
- **Multi-day Storage**: Provides reliable energy for industrial operations where downtime is not an option, solving the intermittency problem of renewables.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale and Replicate**: Replicating the Project Big Stone model at factories and data centers across the U.S. and globally.
- **Giga-scale Manufacturing**: Expanding factory capacity to produce gigawatt-hours of thermal batteries each year, with a focus on American manufacturing.
- **Market Expansion**: Targeting hard-to-abate industrial sectors (steel, cement, chemicals) and data centers, while expanding internationally (e.g., Spain).
- **Cost Leadership**: Driving down costs to make cheap, clean energy the standard for global industry.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-Driven Work**: The company’s north star is to power global industry with clean energy, offering employees a chance to work on one of the most urgent climate challenges.
- **Culture**: Values include “Build with Humility & Openness,” “Team & Mission First,” and “Joy & Laughter Connect Us.” The company emphasizes kindness, collaboration, and learning from setbacks.
- **Work Environment**: Hybrid/remote-friendly with “Home Week” each quarter to bring in-person and remote team members together. Offices in San Jose, CA; Big Stone City, SD; and remote roles in the U.S.
- **Benefits**: Competitive salary, stock options, 401k match, 16 weeks paid parental leave, comprehensive medical/vision/dental, HSA with employer contribution, subsidized backup childcare/senior care/petcare, mental health support, on-site gym, healthy snacks, and volunteer time off.
- **Engineering & Impact**: Teams work on cutting-edge thermal storage, manufacturing, and field engineering. The company is growing fast (36% headcount growth) and offers the chance to shape a new industry.

## Sources
1. [antora.com](https://www.antora.com/)
2. [antora.com/company](https://www.antora.com/company)
3. [antora.com/careers](https://www.antora.com/careers)
4. [linkedin.com/company/antora-energy](https://www.linkedin.com/company/antora-energy)
5. [cbinsights.com/company/antora-energy](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/antora-energy)

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