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.
OPERATIONS ENGINEER, STARLINK SATELLITES
Starlink, our revolutionary satellite constellation, will deliver low-latency broadband internet worldwide. As an Operations Engineer within the Starlink Satellite Production team, you will drive improvement projects to ensure that safety, reliability, and process capability goals are achieved, maintained, and improved. You will be a vital part of the relationship between our development, supply chain, and production teams. You will drive the design and development of new and existing processes and infrastructure to enable our current and future generation vehicles.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Identify, plan, and execute capital equipment, machine, building/infrastructure, and layout upgrades to meet production, materials management, and site demand
- Manage projects and execute to tight timelines while effectively communicating to and influencing stakeholders
- Drive improvements to increase production throughput, reduce manufacturing build hours and quality issues, and remove waste from complex processes
- Anticipate and identify challenges within the satellite manufacturing and procurement value stream, determine root cause, and develop appropriate solutions
- Develop, standardize, and continuously improve key process indicators and other operations metrics. Provide detailed analyses, and drive action plans
- Train technicians, engineers, and leaders on best-in-class operations practices by driving process improvement workshops; providing training and information briefs on key topics; and demonstrating solutions in the area
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline
- Experience with CAD software, SQL, business intelligence tools (e.g. Power BI, Grafana), or analysis tools (Python/R, Arena, Minitab, etc.)
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Experience as an industrial, operations, quality, process, or manufacturing engineer in a manufacturing environment
- Proficiency with statistics, data analysis, cost/benefit analysis, and visualization
- Experience with CAD software, Power BI, and discrete event modeling tools
- Experience with inventory, production, and capacity planning (including MRP/ERP systems)
- Proficient in identifying system enhancement opportunities, understanding end user requirements, and the ability to translate requirements needs into design requirements
- Experience as a contributor to multi-disciplinary and cross-functional teams
- Experience with gathering and using data to drive systemic improvements
- Experience reviewing data and checking for accuracy/errors in a dataset based on process and system knowledge
- Experience working in a highly demanding and fast paced environment
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, ability to make presentations to engineering, team members, internal customers and management
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
Pay range:
Level I: $100,000.00 - $115,000.00/per year
Level II: $110,000.00 - $135,000.00/per year
Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.
Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Employees in Washington State accrue paid sick time in compliance with state and federal law. Company shuttles are offered to employees for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the SpaceX Redmond office Monday to Friday.
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
- Experience with CAD software, SQL, business intelligence tools, or analysis tools
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
