Lead Electrical Hardware Reliability Engineer (Starlink)

SpaceX; Bastrop (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Lead Electrical Hardware Reliability Engineer for Starlink to own the hardware reliability strategy from design to field. You will lead a high-visibility team, set ownership plans, and drive improvements across the product lifecycle, while communicating findings to senior leadership.

You will partner with hardware, software, manufacturing, and supply chain teams to proactively improve designs, reduce field failures, and meet ISO standards and program goals.

Qualifications

• Lead hardware reliability team for Starlink hardware and field performance.
• Coordinate with hardware design, software, manufacturing, and supply chain teams.
• Ensure compliance with ISO standards and industry best practices.

Responsibilities

• Leadership: Lead and mentor a team of engineers and specialists focused on hardware reliability and field performance for Starlink hardware.
• Allocate resources across product qualification campaigns and field investigations to ensure coverage, timely execution, and rapid troubleshooting.
• Develop individual team members through mentorship, ownership, and growth aligned with program goals.
• Partner with hardware design, software, manufacturing, and supply chain teams to influence designs and improve reliability across the lifecycle.
• Technical Scope: Manage investigations with tight timelines stemming from test, production or field findings affecting customers.
• Develop and execute reliability qualification strategies for new and existing products for high-volume manufacturing readiness.
• Design and execute environmental, mechanical, electrical, RF, and system-level testing to qualify design changes.
• Automate reliability test execution, data analysis, and reporting to improve speed and decision-making.
• Define ongoing reliability testing and monitoring to assess process health and long-term risks.
• Define and monitor critical hardware and performance field metrics to identify reliability shortcomings.

Job description

the company 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 the company is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal ofenabling human life on Mars.

LEAD ELECTRICAL HARDWARE RELIABILITY ENGINEER (STARLINK)

As a Lead Hardware Reliability Engineer,you will be responsible for thereliability of the Starlink Product hardware from factory to field. You will develop an intimate understanding of the Starlink system from hardware design to manufacturing processes, test procedures, RF, and network operation. You will lead a team whose priority is to minimize hardware failures and related customer downtime in the field. This is high visibility ownership which feeds into future product design, is involved in product launches, and one where you will regularly communicate findings to senior leadership.

You will set thestrategy,and ownership plans for the teamwhile aligning withmanagement on longer-term development plans. You will be accountable for the team’s overall performance and development, teaching engineers how to solve problems, and staying closely involved in the top project and hardware concerns for this team. You will raise the team’s technical bar by providing tools, resources, trainings,and coaching to set a high standard for engineering, and hold partner teams accountable to timelines, goals, and expectations. You will also identify major and systemic issues within the team’s area of ownership, create projects to address them, and ensure the team meets all relevant ISO standards and requirements.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Leadership:
• Lead and mentor a team of engineers and specialists focusedonhardwarereliabilityand field performancefor the Starlink User Terminal Kit, including user terminals, Wi-Fi routers, power supplies,and cables.
• Allocate resources across new product qualification campaigns, production reliability priorities, andfieldhardware investigations to ensure appropriate technical coverage, timely execution, and rapid troubleshooting of failures
• Develop individual team members through technical mentorship, clear ownership, and opportunities aligned with individual growth and the strategic goals of the Starlinkprogram
• Partner closely with hardware design, software, manufacturing,and supply chainteams to proactively influence current and future designs and maximize reliability across the product lifecycle
• Technical Scope:
• Manage or lead technical investigations with tight timelines concerning isolated or fleet-wide performance orhardwareissuesthataffect Starlink customers. Investigations may stem fromtest,production or field findings.
• Develop and execute reliability qualification strategies for newand existingproducts to maximize field life, minimize early-life failures, and demonstrate readiness for mass production
• Design and execute environmental, mechanical, electrical, RF, and system-level reliability testing tailored to product architecture, use conditions, and identified failure mechanismsto qualify changes in high volume manufacturing
• Automate reliability test execution, data analysis, and reporting using appropriate data visualization and engineering tools to improve speed, repeatability, and technical decision-making
• Defineand monitorongoing reliability testing and monitoring strategies to assess manufacturing process health and identify long-term reliability risks driven by process, material, and component variability
• Define and monitor critical hardware and performance field metrics, such as product return rates, to identify and investigate product reliability shortcomings