Sr. Design Criteria Engineer (Starshield)

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. DESIGN CRITERIA ENGINEER (STARSHIELD)

Starshield leverages SpaceX’s Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts. While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use, with an initial focus on earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. On the Starshield Design Criteria Engineering team, you will ensure that our satellites achieve mission success with high reliability. This team draws from diverse engineering backgrounds to become deeply familiar with hardware from the vehicle system to individual components. These skills will be applied across the two roles we are hiring for: As a design-focused member of this team, you will apply your technical expertise from initial conception of major design revisions and define the path through design maturation, validation, safe launch, and initial operation in orbit. This high-impact phase rewards creativity and innovation but demands foresight and mitigation of risks along the way. As a change-focused member of this team, you will lead identifying and rolling out improvements to the design and processing of satellites, while sustaining our industry-leading design iteration and manufacturing cadence. You will be rewarded by seeing these systems acting in concert to materialize innovative ideas on real satellites flying in space. In both roles, we are looking for passionate engineers with excellent technical fundamentals who thrive in fast-paced development environments to deliver rigorous improvements to the way we develop satellites.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Develop and own design criteria, requirements, and verification approaches for new satellite systems. Continuously improve these processes with stakeholder engagement. Perform critical peer review of hardware designs during design reviews, and of acceptance and qualification test campaigns, and approve plans based on the strength of technical justification that hardware is ready for launch. Guide engineers through the SpaceX design process and ensure design criteria/requirements are being followed for satellite design, manufacturing, and test activities. Provide development input such as analysis or test recommendations on a wide range of engineering problems encompassing electrical, structural, and radio frequency systems. Leverage involvement in broad spectrum of development efforts to be an expert resource for defining vehicle maturity status in key program reviews and communications. Proactively identify development risks, then implement and track mitigation plans. Develop and own long-term strategy to enable satellite and infrastructure changes, while providing daily engineering support and surge coverage for critical issues. Leverage comprehensive expertise in the satellite system architecture to ensure vehicle-wide and atomic changes improve rather than degrade the satellite. Review analysis and test validation approaches across a range of disciplines including electrical, mechanical, and radio frequency systems to build strong justifications for all changes. Own configuration management for the satellites to ensure bill of materials accuracy for both as-designed and as-built configurations and all changes therein. Provide critical input to ensure change implementation across the fleet of satellite variants is efficient and practical; ensure scope and impacts across design, manufacturing, supply chain, and test are identified and assigned; and follow-up to confirm thorough closure. Serve as the primary expert for tracking and conveying history of all changes and other system-level considerations in key program reviews and investigations. Develop specialized tools that enable design, analysis, and milestone tracking.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline. 5+ years of experience in an engineering role (professional, project team, internship, or extracurricular experience all apply).

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

Advanced degree in an engineering discipline. 5+ years professional experience in an engineering role (design, analysis, test, or manufacturing). Ability to be self-motivated in a demanding start-up atmosphere. Experience with aircraft, launch vehicles, spacecraft, or other aerospace systems. Experience with electrical or mechanical system design, analysis, testing, and fabrication for use in safety-critical or high-manufacturing-rate applications. Experience with make versus buy decisions for system components. Scripting and data analysis experience using Visual Basic, SQL, Matlab, Python, or Excel. Experience in using or maintaining enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong organization, attention to detail, and thoroughness. Must have an ongoing drive for continuous improvement in all aspects of work.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, OR ability and willingness to obtain a Top Secret clearance is desired but not required. An active clearance may provide the opportunity for you to work on sensitive SpaceX missions; if so, you will be subject to pre-employment drug and random drug and alcohol testing. Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary. Ability to travel up to 10% of the time.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay Range: Level 3: $135,000.00 - $190,000.00 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 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. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law. Those with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.

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 reach out to View email address on click.appcast.io.