Sr. Electrical Design Engineer (Starshield)
- Location
- Hawthorne, CA · On-site
- Job type
- Full-time
- Level
- Senior
- Experience
- 5+ years
- Education
- Bachelor's degree
- Listed
- 30 days ago
Skills & highlights for this role
- TS/SCI clearance
- FPGA
- mixed-signal circuit design
- DDR4
- SerDes
- Python
- C/C++
Also useful
- Ethernet
- I2C
- SPI
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. As an electrical development engineer on the Starshield team, you will demonstrate extreme ownership through detailed and thorough design, hardware bring- up/characterization/testing, and requirements generation/verification - ultimately seeing your hardware through all aspects of its life cycle.
Starshield is a quickly growing program with a wide range of engaging opportunities from blank-sheet design to on-orbit troubleshooting. You will work with many cross-disciplinary teams and will need to think at a system level to ensure that your design is viable. Our development timelines are quick and you will need to rigorously explore solutions for previously unsolved or unknown problems. Every day we push the limits of what is possible through innovation, determination, and teamwork to drive the mission to success.
Responsibilities
- Rapidly design, develop and test highly reliable electronics for communicating with our satellites
- Drive electrical architecture, specification, component selection, circuit board design, implementation, verification, board bring up and debugging
- Partner with software, mechanical, thermal, manufacturing teams and production test teams
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in electrical or computer engineering
- 5+ years of professional experience designing electronics products
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Master's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or similar engineering degree
- 3+ years of professional experience rapidly designing and delivering highly reliable products
- 3+ 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
- 2+ 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
- 2+ years of professional experience testing, troubleshooting and debugging electronics
- 2+ years of professional experience with fast-paced projects
- Strong understanding of computers and programming languages (Python, C/C++)
- Demonstrated ability to work in a highly cross-functional role
- Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding start-up atmosphere
- Excellent communication skills both written and verbal
- Active TS/SCI clearance or the ability to obtain and maintain one
Additional Requirements
- An active clearance may provide the opportunity for you to work on sensitive SpaceX missions; if so, you will be subject to pre-employment drug and random drug and alcohol testing
- Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed
Pay range
Sr. Electrical Design Engineer: $140,000.00 - $205,000.00/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. Those with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.
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.
About SpaceX
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.
Equal opportunity and legal notices
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.
From SpaceX's careers page, first listed on Rolev.ai on October 10, 2026. Rolev.ai is not the employer.
How Rolev.ai helps with this application
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Common questions
Where is the Sr. Electrical Design Engineer (Starshield) job at SpaceX located?
This Sr. Electrical Design Engineer (Starshield) position at SpaceX is located in Hawthorne, CA (On-site). Always check SpaceX's application page for specific state eligibility or relocation policies.
What qualifications are required for Sr. Electrical Design Engineer (Starshield) at SpaceX?
For the Sr. Electrical Design Engineer (Starshield) role, SpaceX highlights 5+ years of relevant experience; a bachelor's degree; experience with FPGA, mixed-signal circuit design, DDR4, SerDes, Python, C/C++. Rolev.ai can score your existing resume against these requirements and show any skill gaps before you apply.
How do I apply for the Sr. Electrical Design Engineer (Starshield) position at SpaceX?
This listing links directly to SpaceX's Greenhouse application page. You can apply directly on SpaceX's site, or use Rolev.ai to check your resume fit, generate a zero-hallucination tailored resume and cover letter for this posting, and autofill the Greenhouse application form in 1 click with the Rolev.ai Chrome extension. You always review the form and press Submit yourself.