Lead Avionics Integration & Test 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.

In this role, you will lead a portion of the team responsible for designing, developing, troubleshooting, and maintaining the hardware test systems used to develop, produce and qualify our satellites. As the lead, you would cultivate your direct reports to develop electrical, RF, and software solutions that quickly and thoroughly validate each component of satellite hardware. Our engineers thrive in this multidisciplinary environment with ever-changing needs as we strive to make a significant contribution to the capabilities of our nation for the decades to come.

Our development timelines are quick, and you and your team will need to rigorously explore solutions for previously unsolved or unknown problems. Every day we push the limits of what is possible through innovation, determination, and teamwork to drive the mission to success.

• →Provide strong technical leadership with a focus on continuous improvement.
• →Manage projects and delegate responsibilities effectively to complete work on time.
• →Determine team goals to effectively implement testing solutions.
• →Develop and enforce processes to standardize test system deliverable expectations.
• →Develop highly reliable autonomous test systems.
• →Own all aspects of test development, including requirements evaluation, system development, subsystem testing, and factory integration.
• →Collaborate with teams, lead projects, and continuously drive improvement in hardware testing.
• →Create modular, reusable software in Python to automate manufacturing processes and tests.
• →Collaborate directly with the design and manufacturing engineers to validate flight hardware.
• →Actively maintain tests that support rapid design iteration of flight hardware and software.
• →Develop test infrastructure that enables scaling to large numbers of devices under test.

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, physics or another engineering discipline.
• 2+ years of professional experience in testing or hardware development.
• 1+ years of leadership experience leading teams, projects or people. 

• 5+ years of professional design and/or hands-on manufacturing experience. 
• 3+ years of prior leadership experience leading teams, projects or people.
• Master's degree in engineering or related discipline. 
• Experience leading a team of diverse individuals.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills both written and verbal.
• Thorough knowledge of electrical systems.
• Thorough knowledge of computer architecture and networks.
• Creative approach to problem solving, exceptional analytical skills and engineering fundamentals.
• Experience developing, debugging, and deploying electrical test systems that have been used in real-world applications/projects.
• Ability to work effectively in a dynamic environment with changing needs and requirements.

• Must be available to work extended hours as needed to support mission-critical objectives.
• 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.

• 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 EEOCompliance@spacex.com.