Senior Materials Engineer for On‑Orbit AI Compute

SpaceX; Bastrop (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Sr. Materials Engineer for the Starmind program to own the lifecycle of materials, from specification to failure analysis, enabling high-performance satellite compute hardware.

The role sits at the intersection of materials science, mechanical and thermal engineering, with emphasis on advanced packaging and radiation-tolerant design for space environments. Collaboration across disciplines is essential to meet mission deadlines.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in materials science, mechanical engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in microelectronics device research or manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Rapidly develop high-reliability microelectronics packages, cooling systems, and radiator hardware for satellites.
• Own the full lifecycle of materials specification, validation, and process development including device modeling and materials failure analysis.
• Drive system trades, requirements capture, materials selection, prototyping, manufacturing, failure analysis.
• Build supply chains for build-up layers, plating chemicals, coatings, thermal interface materials, and other materials for compute and satellite manufacturing.
• Address materials and process challenges in advanced packaging and develop next-generation TIM materials to improve packaging performance.
• Specify and implement in-process metrology tools for quality control and design thermal test vehicles to evaluate material/electronic properties.

Skills

Materials science

Microelectronics

Thermal engineering

Reliability testing

Education

Bachelor's degree in materials science or related engineering

Tools

Python

MATLAB

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Sr. Materials Engineer for the Starmind program to own the lifecycle of materials, from specification to failure analysis, enabling high-performance satellite compute hardware.

The role sits at the intersection of materials science, mechanical and thermal engineering, with emphasis on advanced packaging and radiation-tolerant design for space environments. Collaboration across disciplines is essential to meet mission deadlines.