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.
SR. HARDWARE ENGINEER, GATEWAYS & CUSTOMER HARDWARE (STARLINK)
Starlink believes in providing fast, reliable internet to serve populations with little or no connectivity. We design, build, launch, and operate the world's largest constellation of satellites, enabling us to operate a global internet network unbounded by traditional ground infrastructure limitations. Starlink also designs, builds, and delivers high-volume consumer hardware that allows users to connect to these satellites within minutes of unboxing, as well as our advanced gateways that we deploy regionally throughout the world. The root of SpaceX’s success so far lies in our mission to keep all engineering and production in-house, which enables a tight feedback loop, nimble decision-making, and speedy deliverables. With millions of daily users worldwide already online, Starlink is truly a game changer and levels the playing field for those who were previously unconnected.
As a Sr. Hardware Engineer on on the Starlink team, you will have complete ownership over the development of millions of customer-facing products and devices that we ship directly to end users (Starlink dishes/user terminals, Wi-Fi routers, etc.). Our customers currently include teachers in the most remote parts of the Amazon, researchers in Antarctica, digital nomads who travel via RV, emergency responders, commercial airlines, cruise lines, and residential users who live in more rural or developing areas. You could also be responsible for the design and performance of next-generation gateways - ultimately ensuring that our ground station antenna hardware can withstand the harshest environmental conditions while maintaining reliable communication with millions of users on a global scale. You will interact regularly partner teams including silicon, software, mechanical, and manufacturing to steer this hardware from initial concept development to full-scale production.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Design, develop, and test highly reliable electronics for communicating with our satellites
- Partner with software, mechanical, thermal, manufacturing, and production test teams
- Drive system trades, requirements capture, component selection, analysis, schematic capture, PCB layout, prototyping, hardware bring-up, debugging, documentation, manufacturing, and test of complex electrical designs
- Get hands-on and support hardware through production, satellite integration, and flight
- Work closely with engineers from adjacent disciplines (mechanical, thermal, software, test engineering, supply chain, silicon design, etc.) to deliver tightly integrated, high-performance hardware
- Drive continual improvements to our designs by building physical and digital tools to analyze data collected on orbit and in the lab
- Challenge assumptions and work to find simple solutions to complex problems
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or other engineering discipline
- 5+ years of professional experience designing circuits, electronic products, or hardware
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Master’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or similar engineering degree
- 8+ years of professional experience rapidly designing and delivering highly reliable products
- 8+ years of electronic product experience designing hardware from concept through production; strong emphasis on full life cycle development of new hardware products and not small incremental updates to legacy hardware
- 8+ years of experience designing and implementing mixed-signal circuit boards from concept through production using processors, FPGAs, Ethernet, multi-GHz Serdes, DRAM interfaces (DDR4), I2C, SPI, operational amplifiers, analog to digital and digital to analog converters, and power supply components
- 8+ years of professional experience testing, troubleshooting, and debugging electronics
- Strong understanding of computers and programming languages (Python, C/C++)
- Demonstrated ability to work in a highly cross-functional role
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Ability to work extended hours or weekends as needed for mission critical deadlines
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 electrical engineering or other engineering discipline
- 5+ years professional experience designing circuits, electronic products, or hardware
- Ability to work extended hours or weekends as needed for mission critical deadlines
- U.S. person status per ITAR (U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee) or eligible to obtain required Department of State authorizations
- Master's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or similar
- 8+ years professional experience rapidly designing and delivering highly reliable products (full life cycle development)
- 8+ years designing and implementing mixed-signal circuit boards using processors, FPGAs, Ethernet, multi-GHz SerDes, DDR4, I2C, SPI, op amps, ADCs/DACs, and power supply components
- 8+ years testing, troubleshooting, and debugging electronics
- Strong understanding of computers and programming languages (Python, C/C++)
- Demonstrated ability to work in a highly cross-functional role
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.
