Lead Engineer, Development Operations (Starlink)

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Bastrop, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX in Bastrop, TX is seeking a Lead Engineer for Development Operations (Starlink) to own the engineering stack from concept through fabrication, including fixtures, tooling, and DFMs. You will mentor engineers and drive quality, cost, and schedule improvements across build cells.

You will collaborate with Supervisors, CNC programmers, machinists, welders, and vendors to define requirements and ensure timely handoffs, with rigorous documentation and design standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree: mechanical engineering or related field.
• 2+ years leading a product development, manufacturing engineering, or project team.
• 3+ years hands-on design, analysis, build, and/or manufacturing of mechanical or electromechanical hardware.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Development Operations engineering team (Build Engineers and design/DFM ICs); hire, coach, set goals.
• Own design for manufacturability from concept through fab; manage GD&T and design changes.
• Own fixtures, tooling, workholding, and catalog items from raw material through handoff to the customer program.
• Act as technical decision maker for the shop engineering stack and escalation paths.

Skills

Team leadership

DFM/DFA

GD&T

Fixtures & tooling understanding

Vendor interaction

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

Teamcenter

CNC

Welding

Job description

Lead Engineer, Development Operations (Starlink)

Bastrop, TX

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 ofenabling human life on Mars.

LEAD ENGINEER, DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS (STARLINK) - BASTROP

SpaceX is leveraging its experience in building rockets and spacecraft to deploy Starlink, the world’s most advanced broadband internet system. Starlink is the world’s largest satellite constellation and is providing fast, reliable internet to millions of users worldwide. We design, build, test, and operate all parts of the system — thousands of satellites, consumer receivers that allow users to connect within minutes of unboxing, and the software that brings it all together.

Development Operations in Bastrop is the shop that turns engineering intent into hardware: fixtures, tooling, CNC, weld, modular automation cells, and the mechanical catalog that factory and test programs pull from. We are looking for a Lead Engineer to own that engineering stack — design, DFM, and the engineers who run it — so programs hit schedule without a hero on every job.

This role encompasses design, analysis, and manufacturing. You will spearhead large-scope projects from early design trades through fab and handoff. You will define processes, drive requirements, and set the design bar (GD&T, NX, fixtures that the mill can actually cut). You partner with Development Supervisors who own technician people ops.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead the Development Operations engineering team (Build Engineers and design/DFM ICs): hire, coach, set goals, and raise the bar on quality, throughput, and schedule
• Own design for manufacturability from concept through fab: original CAD, GD&T, design reviews, and design changes that reduce cost, complexity, and cycle time
• Own fixtures, tooling, workholding, and mechanical catalog items (cells, conveyors, buffers, stands) from raw material through handoff to the customer program
• Act as technical decision maker for the shop engineering stack — what we make, how we make it, and when we push a design back to the RE
• Partner with Development Supervisors on intake, queue, and expedite
• Partner with CNC programmers, machinists, welders, ACE specialists, and inventory
• Drive NCR, root cause, and corrective action on non-conforming product (tooling, cells, fixtures, piece parts)
• Create and maintain build documentation: procedures, MBOMs, integration instructions, and planning that technicians and vendors can execute
• Interface with supply chain and vendors so piece parts and sub-assemblies hit rate
• Present look-ahead with a recommendation (options, capacity, risk)
• Support Development Test with fixtures and fab

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or other engineering discipline
• 2+ year leading a product development, manufacturing engineering, or project team
• 3+ years of hands-on design, analysis, build, and/or manufacturing of mechanical or electromechanical hardware

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• 2+ years of experience with CAD (NX, SolidWorks, or equivalent)
• Demonstrated full-cycle ownership of a hardware project from concept through fab and handoff
• Design for manufacturability (DFM/DFA) with design teams — including pushing back on over-constrained CAD
• GD&T you can inspect
• Fixtures, tooling, weldments, or modular automation / material-handling equipment
• CNC, conventional machining, or weld/fab process
• FEA / first-principles structures calcs on tooling and stands
• NX and Teamcenter (or equivalent PLM)
• DFMEA / PFMEA
• Vendor fab, NCR, and cross-functional schedule pressure with incomplete requirements
• Strong desire to mentor engineers

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Hands-on: time on the floor with hardware, not only in CAD
• Willing to work weekends and extended hours as needed for program milestones
• Occasional travel to other SpaceX sites
• 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 Affimative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to [e-mail].

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in SpaceX’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service‑connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.