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.

FLIGHT SAFETY ENGINEER (STARSHIP AVIONICS)

The Starship Development Engineering Team designs the flight safety hardware systems for the Starship vehicle. Our team works across disciplinary boundaries to integrate high reliability electronics, ordnance, and systems operations to create a high reliability safety system. We work tightly with build and flight operations in a fast-paced environment.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Act as responsible engineer for Starship Flight Termination System (FTS) development, hardware design, qualification, and launch of vehicles
  • Define detailed system design, including system interconnect schematics, consumable budgets, harness and channel capabilities, fault tolerance, reliability, hardware manifest, vehicle risk, and configuration change management
  • Work collaboratively with customers and experts from other teams to perform system trades, define vehicle architecture, and scope new designs as they move from concept, through prototype, and into production
  • Ensure that the as-built Flight Termination System meets design intent and regulatory requirements
  • Interface with internal operations teams, internal flight reliability teams, and external regulatory partners such as the FAA. Responsible for assessing and communicating to SpaceX internal teams and regulatory partners that FTS is ready for flight.
  • Generate and submit flight safety system certification deliverables

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in electrical, mechanical, aerospace or computer engineering, or physics
  • 1+ years of hardware development experience in electronic or mechanical systems (significant academic projects, internships, and traditional professional experience all qualify)

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • Experience with system design and testing for hardware sub-systems such as RF, power, communications, human interface, and sensors
  • Experience designing and certifying flight safety systems for launch vehicles
  • Experience with system trades and first-hand knowledge of how requirements tie hardware to larger systems
  • Self-starter with experience making hardware work within demanding time and resource constraints
  • Experience with wire harness design and build, including associated sub-components
  • Experience with NX or similar CAD design software
  • Familiarity with electrical test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, power supplies, etc.), and basic analysis techniques
  • Experience writing engineering software for test automation, data review, and design analysis, preferably in MATLAB or Python
  • Demonstrated project management skills and ability to collaborate with other engineering disciplines

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

  • Extended hours and weekend work may be required to support critical project and mission milestones

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:                             

Pay Range:       
Flight Reliability Engineer/Level I: $95,000.00 - $115,000.00/per year      
Flight Reliability Engineer/Level II: $110,000.00 - $130,000.00/per year                  

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year. 

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.

SR. BUILD RELIABILITY ENGINEER, AVIONICS (STARSHIP)

The Build Reliability organization at SpaceX is an inclusive, inter-disciplinary team that is committed to the reliability of flight components and production assemblies. Your breadth of exposure as a Build Reliability Engineer will be immense as you collaborate with other core groups at SpaceX, guiding the hardware from design to production and operation. You use data to understand the factors that drive reliability, and support quality objectives in design and development teams to drive improvements in reliability in manufacturing, test and flight. You have the ability to dive deep on the details to identify, understand and solve difficult technical problems and also utilize a system level approach to prioritize issues for the vehicle as a whole. You thrive in a hands-on environment and will spend time in the office, on the factory floor, and in the lab to execute on the mission to make humanity interplanetary.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Partner with design, test, and manufacturing through product development and production to ensure the reliability of Avionics parts (i.e. controllers, RIOs, sensors, RF, power systems, solar arrays, wire harnessing, etc.)
  • Responsible for tracking yield, test/inspection escapes, and ensuring past failures and lessons learned are incorporated into NPI
  • Develop, implement and validate Lean test and inspection processes for new and existing products and process, ensuring that criteria are objective and that quality goals are consistently met
  • Monitor the success of products and processes through production ramp-up using a suite of quality and analysis tools
  • Conduct regular build quality reviews to ensure that design intent is achieved and well-communicated; identify opportunities for risk reduction and removal of complexity in designs and processes to improve manufacturability, collaborating with integrated product teams to drive improvements and address high-impact and repeating non-conformances
  • Investigate failures in production, test and flight, identifying and mitigating the immediate and underlying root causes in order to quantify/reduce risk and improve reliability of designs and processes
  • Utilize schematics, test equipment, inspection processes, etc. to perform structured electrical root cause analysis of failures identified during the development and production processes to inform design/manufacturing changes
  • Perform gage repeatability and reproducibility studies to validate test systems used for product acceptance
  • Contain suspect or known non-conforming product, providing guidance to quality inspectors, technicians, shop supervisors and engineers to assist in quarantining and rework activities
  • Support the shop floor in continuous improvement and the advancing of a Lean, autonomous production system through creation of standard rework/repair guides, removal of redundant or unnecessary inspection, and improved control and optimization of critical processes

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, materials engineering, manufacturing engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, or another STEM related field
  • 5+ years in a manufacturing, quality and/or design engineering role (student project team or internship experience qualifies) 

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, enthusiasm for the team’s spirit of innovation and mission of improving reliability in cutting-edge technology
  • Master’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, materials engineering, or electrical engineering
  • Demonstrated application of process controls in high volume manufacturing, test, and quality environment
  • Knowledge of quality tools such as Lean principles, measurement systems analysis, design of experiments, statistical process control, root cause analysis and corrective action, advanced product quality planning (APQP), metrology, process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA), control plans, and various problem solving approaches
  • Dedicated to adopting a Lean approach to quality without compromising safety or reliability
  • Experience developing or supporting any of the following products/processes:
    • Complex mechanical/structural assemblies
    • Advanced composites systems
    • Fluid component/valve assembly
    • Pre-preg lamination/curing composites
    • CNC machining, forming, bending
    • Bonding, drilling, fastening and other assembly manufacturing processes
    • Avionics integration and testing
    • Fluid system pressure testing
    • Welding (electron beam (EB), TIG) 

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Ability to work extended hours, weekends, and offsite as needed

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:    
    
Pay range:
Build Reliability Engineer/Senior: $125,000.00 - $175,000.00/per year     

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year.                  

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

  • To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.  

SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should notify the Human Resources Department at (310) 363-6000.

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