Production Director (Starship)

SpaceX; Starbase (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX seeks a Production Director for Starship at Starbase to lead large-scale, multidisciplinary teams and complex manufacturing projects. This hands-on role dives into engineering challenges, driving cadence and safety while delivering flight-ready vehicles.

You will partner with engineering leaders to meet critical timelines, cultivate a high-performance culture, and push continuous improvement across production operations in a fast-paced space startup environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or 8+ years of experience in a production/military/automotive environment.
• 5+ years of experience in a manufacturing/engineering leadership role.
• 2+ years of experience in a managerial role overseeing indirect reports.

Responsibilities

• Oversee strategic and tactical execution of Starbase Production Operations to meet milestones.
• Manage staff and several direct reports.
• Collaborate with engineering leadership to ensure vehicle development meets timelines and does not affect launch schedule.
• Meet tight production schedules to achieve high-rate production while adapting to changing priorities.
• Maintain productive relationships and influence others outside area of responsibility.
• Lead and develop a high performing culture with people leadership as a core responsibility.
• Ensure safety is prioritized and safety metrics are strong.
• Champion continuous improvement projects using metrics and data sources.
• Foster cooperation within and between support departments.
• Think creatively; challenge the status quo while maintaining quality standards.

Skills

Manufacturing leadership

Technical project management

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Engineering judgment

People development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering field

Job description

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.

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR (STARSHIP)

SpaceX is revolutionizing the space industry by challenging what is possible and relentlessly pursuing continuous improvement to make life multiplanetary. The Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster form the most powerful launch system ever developed, designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. As Director of Starship Production at Starbase, you will lead large-scale, multi-disciplinary production teams and complex manufacturing projects.

This is a hands-on leadership role that requires diving deep into the unique engineering and production challenges of building flight hardware at unprecedented cadence and scale. You will lead some of the most passionate and capable technicians and engineers on the planet. By driving process excellence, optimizing production systems, and fostering a high-performance culture, you will make a lasting impact on humanity’s journey to space—turning ambitious goals into flight-ready vehicles.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Oversee the strategic and tactical execution of Starbase Production Operations such that manifest milestones are consistently achieved
• Manage overall staff and several direct reports
• Collaborate extensively with engineering leaders to ensure vehicle development meets all critical timelines and does not impact schedule to launch
• Meet tight production schedules to achieve high-rate production, while adapting to changing priorities in a fast moving environment
• Maintain productive relationships and often influence others outside of area of responsibility
• Lead and develop a high performing culture whereby people leadership is an essential responsibility
• Ensure a strong focus is placed on safety and maintain an excellent safety record
• Champion continuous improvement projects using appropriate metrics and data sources
• Foster a spirit of cooperation and collaboration within and between support departments
• Think creatively; question the status quo, while following documentation and maintaining prescribed quality standards

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering field or at least 8+ years of experience in a production/military/automotive environment
• 5+ years of experience in a manufacturing/engineering leadership role
• 2+ years of experience in a managerial role overseeing indirect reports

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Proven track record of building, motivating, mentoring, and coaching high performance manufacturing teams
• Technical project management experience
• Excellent technical expertise and judgement across multiple engineering disciplinespermitting peer-level review of your team’s work product
• Creative problem solving that can bring multiple disciplines together
• Ability to assess risk and make development decisions without all available data
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with direct experience negotiating integrated system trades between various stakeholders
• Experience working with cross-functional teams and external customers or vendors
• Highly detail oriented and passionate about advancing the commercial space industry
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding start-up atmosphere

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be willing to work extended hours and/or weekends as needed to meet critical deliverable and launch/test schedule timelines
• Able to travel for short and extended trips as needed (up to 10% travel)

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 [e-mail].