Sr. Supplier Development Engineer, Data Center (Starlink)

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a talented data center engineer to develop, drive, and maintain suppliers from concept to production, enabling high-performance facilities and data centers. Based in Palo Alto, you will collaborate with engineering and manufacturing teams and suppliers to implement cross-functional data center strategies that maximize uptime and reliability across rack-level hardware.

This role requires technical leadership, attention to detail, and a proactive approach to reliability, thermal,

Responsibilities

• Analyze data center hardware and processes from a first principles, physics-based approach with focus on data center hardware domain.
• Ability to own complex rack-level solutions, system-level design decisions across mechanical, electrical, power, thermal, networking, and software integration domains.
• Lead the integration of Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) principles into data center strategy and architecture, ensuring resilient, high-performing infrastructure that consistently delivers maximum uptime and operational continuity.
• Experience in rack-level solution design and integration, switch/server experience, including compute (CPU-GPU), storage, or networking hardware integration.
• Provide deep technical guidance on rack infrastructure including power distribution units (PDUs), cooling systems, airflow design, and high-density compute integration.
• Apply reliability methods and thermal engineering, mechanical engineering and electronics to design accelerated test plans for design validation, burn-in testing, environmental stress screening (ESS), and ongoing reliability testing (ORT).
• Facilitate and lead design FMEA sessions to assess hardware risks, determine validation test plans and drive reliable design choices.
• Develop hardware qualification criteria, collaborate on functional and reliability requirements, and drive system-level optimization for high-volume installation.

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.

SpaceX is on mission to create AI systems that can accurately understand the universe and aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. We are looking for talented, creative, and driven data center engineers to develop, drive, and maintain suppliers, from initial concept development to full scale production.

This is a high-profile, cross functional position that plays an integral role in enabling development and production of data centers. You will work in close coordination with internal engineering and manufacturing departments as well as directly with suppliers to execute effective, creative and smart supply chain strategies to activate some of the world’s most technically advanced facilities and data centers.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Analyze data center hardware and processes from a first principles, physics-based approach with focus on data center hardware domain.
• Ability to own complex rack-level solutions, system-level design decisions across mechanical, electrical, power, thermal, networking, and software integration domains.
• Lead the integration of Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) principles into data center strategy and architecture, ensuring resilient, high-performing infrastructure that consistently delivers maximum uptime and operational continuity.
• Experience in rack-level solution design and integration, switch/server experience, including compute (CPU-GPU), storage, or networking hardware integration.
• Provide deep technical guidance on rack infrastructure including power distribution units (PDUs), cooling systems, airflow design, and high-density compute integration.
• Apply reliability methods and thermal engineering, mechanical engineering and electronics to design accelerated test plans for design validation, burn-in testing, environmental stress screening (ESS), and ongoing reliability testing (ORT).
• Facilitate and lead design FMEA sessions to assess hardware risks, determine validation test plans and drive reliable design choices.
• Develop hardware qualification criteria, collaborate on functional and reliability requirements, and drive system-level optimization for high-volume installation.