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 of enabling human life on Mars.
AUTOMATION BUILD ENGINEER, DEVELOPMENT (STARLINK)
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 of enabling human life on Mars.
As a build engineer on the Development Operations team, you will be responsible for leading large-scale projects, developing standardized procedures, and optimizing fabrication and integration processes to drive overall efficiency inside our shop, across our internal customer base and strategic partnerships with local vendors.
Working in concert with Starlink engineering product teams, supply chain, materials management, and leadership, you will coordinate ownership across these multi-disciplinary teams. You will collaborate daily, driving meaningful changes to processes, procedures, planning, and organization to improve fabrication and integration workflow. You will take extreme ownership of deliverables, schedule adherence, and alignment with overall program milestones.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Act as the primary liaison between automation, supply chain, production, and development operations to ensure factory infrastructure is built and deployed to meet program milestones
- Ideate and implement new manufacturing processes and workflows within the development operations team to increase shop throughput, efficiency and personnel safety
- Manage the build, configuration and instillation of all modular automation assets within the team’s catalog from raw material purchase to complete cell build and handoff to automation/production
- Work with peer engineering and support teams to drive design updates in response to manufacturing issues, part obsolescence, and system requirement changes
- Prepare engineering documentation necessary for the transition from development to production including assembly procedures, integration instruction and manufacturing bills of materials
- Work with supplier and internal vendors to fabricate piece parts and sub-assemblies at rate to meet production needs or supplement internal capacity
- Contribute to design reviews acting as an expert in design for manufacturability, design for reliability, design for maintenance, supplier capabilities assessments, quality control, etc.
- Spearhead cost reduction efforts and implement initiatives to meet and exceed departmental objectives while not compromising on quality
- Design, develop, validate, and implement tooling to ensure repeatability and efficiency
- Primary point of contact for non-conforming product (cells, panels & tooling), troubleshooting, root cause, failure investigations and corrective actions
- Develop training requirements for built technician personnel and work to elevate overall team capability and productivity
- Work creatively and innovate to support SpaceX's goals by always being prepared to challenge the status quo
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
- 2+ years of experience in design, manufacturing, and/or production of mechanical or electrical hardware systems (internship and collegiate extracurricular engineering project experience qualifies)
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- 2+ years of experience implementing design for manufacture for electromechanical systems
- 2+ years of professional experience in design and/or production of mechanical or electronics hardware systems
- Ability to create and deliver presentations for design and manufacturing readiness reviews
- Experience transitioning products from design to manufacturing as part of a cross-functional team in a fast-paced iterative design environment
- Experience modeling with 3D CAD software such as: NX, Catia, Solidworks or equivalent
- Working proficiency with DFMEA and PFMEA methodology and implementation
- SPC (Statistical Process Control) knowledge and experience applying statistical methods to track process capability
- Competency with SQL databases
- Demonstrated experience designing tooling in a manufacturing environment
- Hands-on engineer with a passion for continuous improvement
- Capable of solving complex problems with little to no supervision on schedule as an individual or as a member of an integrated team
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be willing to work extended hours and/or overtime as needed
- Some travel to outside vendors may be required (up to 10%)
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 [email protected].
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
- 2+ years of experience in design, manufacturing, and/or production of mechanical or electrical hardware systems
SpaceX Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about SpaceX and has not been reviewed or approved by SpaceX.
-
Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity grants are a core part of total compensation, with periodic company-run tender offers that create liquidity before any public listing. These mechanisms can make the equity component feel materially valuable in practice.
-
Healthcare Strength — The package includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with on-site clinics and health resources at major sites. This breadth of coverage is presented as a strong element of the offering.
-
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Major locations feature on-site amenities such as fitness facilities, food/coffee, clinics, and other conveniences. These lifestyle perks enhance day-to-day value alongside cash and equity.
SpaceX Insights
What We Do
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space transportation, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary. SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones. It is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in December 2010. The company made history again in May 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, exchanged cargo payloads, and returned safely to Earth — a technically challenging feat previously accomplished only by governments. Since then Dragon has delivered cargo to and from the space station multiple times, providing regular cargo resupply missions for NASA.
