Manufacturing Engineer, PCBA (Starshield)

About the role

Starshield leverages SpaceX's Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts. While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use, with an initial focus on earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads.

The Starshield PCBA Engineer will work inside the production organization to develop, manage, and bring-up and improve the PCBA manufacturing process. This role looks to design production lines suitable to meet necessary rate, work with equipment suppliers to install and validate new equipment, and continuously seeks to improve the production process. We are actively looking for candidates who possess comprehensive knowledge of manufacturing and quality tools and have the motivation to work with supply chain to build a premium product at scale.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage PCBA manufacturing processes and PCBA products for in-house production.
• Drive processes for volume production of PCBA including manufacturing execution, nonconforming product management, configuration management, traceability tracking, and process control.
• Manage new product introduction of PCBA assemblies, working closely with design engineers and process specialists.
• Use process capability analysis, gauge R&R, and other tools to lead new equipment selection.
• Design and implement systems to improve the safety of the PCBA production line.
• Manage work instructions, process documentation, and training.
• Track schedule, work-in-progress levels, and defect rates of owned products.
• Identify trends and opportunities for optimizing product output, quality enhancements, and cost of manufacturability.
• Provide feedback to the engineering design team to improve design for manufacturability.
• Identify, root-cause, and correct SMT production and testing issues.
• Drive corrective actions and process improvements on owned processes and products.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline.
• 1+ years of experience in one or more of the following areas: manufacturing engineering, surface mount technology (SMT), accelerated testing, hardware debug/triage, design for reliability, or printed circuit board (PCB) design and layout (school and project experience will qualify).

Preferred Skills and Experience

• High volume production experience (consumer goods, automotive, etc.).
• Hands-on experience working in SMT processing and/or related PCBA processes from industry, research, or academic projects.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work both autonomously and as a team in a highly demanding, fast-paced environment.
• Knowledge of IPC manufacturing standards.
• Experience with SQL and Python.
• Knowledge of statistical techniques and methods such as experiment design, process capability analysis, and gauge R&R.
• Experience with Six Sigma.
• Experience with basic failure analysis tools and methods (X-ray, cross-section, polishing).
• Demonstrated ability to gather, analyze, and use data to drive systemic improvements.

Additional Requirements

• Ability to life heavy objects, up to 25 lbs. unassisted.
• Willing to work weekend and extended hours as needed.
• Able to travel for business trips up to 10% on an ongoing basis.

Pay Range

Level 1: $100,000.00 - $130,000.00

Level 2: $115,000.00 - $160,000.00

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.

Those with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.

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.