Hardware Reliability Specialist (Starlink Aviation)

About the role

SpaceX's Starlink Aviation team is working to connect commercial and private aircraft to our growing constellation of low earth orbit satellites to provide a high bandwidth, low latency, "living room" Wi-Fi experience in-flight anywhere on earth. As a hardware reliability specialist, you will help ensure our hardware operates continuously and meets our standards of high performance throughout the harsh environments found on aircraft. You will help solve aviation specific electrical PCBA issues, run root cause investigations, and work with design, test, and manufacturing teams to improve product reliability.

Responsibilities

• Perform electrical debugging and fault isolation on complex electronic systems, using common laboratory tools
• Conduct root cause investigations, including:
• Identifying and characterizing failure modes and mechanisms
• Applying electrical first principles to debug complex electronic systems and identifying patterns in system behavior across many failing units
• Performing in-depth commonality studies, leveraging manufacturing, test, and field data
• Developing and executing test plans to validate hypotheses
• Collaborating with engineering teams to implement design and process changes to prevent future failures
• Proactively analyze production data, test results, and field failure data to identify trends, patterns, and correlations that can inform manufacturing improvements and preventive strategies
• Communicate complex technical information and data insights to stakeholders, including management, engineering, and production teams, to drive action and improvement

Basic Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalency certificate
• 1+ years of experience in engineering, reliability, manufacturing, or quality field
• Experience with electrical debugging tools such as oscilloscopes
• Experience with electrical engineering principles, including but not limited to: circuit schematics, analog and digital signals, radio frequency electromagnetics, wireless communications, and semiconductors

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering or STEM discipline
• Demonstrated capability to think creatively and solve complex problems with little to no supervision on schedule as an individual or as a member of an integrated team
• Experience with hands-on non-conformance management and investigation of a high-paced production environment
• Capable of concisely communicating status and needed action, often urgently, to your supervisor and other management levels
• Good written, oral, presentation, and documentation skills
• Experience reading and analyzing electrical schematics and printed circuit board layouts.
• Experience with embedded systems, basic understanding of Linux terminal commands/structure.
• Experience with MS Excel, SQL, Python, process flow mapping, warehouse management systems, process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA)

Additional Requirements

• Must be willing to work long hours and weekends as needed.

Pay Range

• Level 1: $34.00 - $40.00
• Level 2: $38.00 - $45.00
• Level 3: $42.00 - $51.00

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 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 accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.

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.