Lead Production Test Development Engineer, Customer Hardware (Starlink)

Employer description

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.

LEAD PRODUCTION TEST DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER, CUSTOMER HARDWARE (STARLINK) 

SpaceX is leveraging its experience in building rockets and spacecraft to deploy Starlink, the world’s most advanced broadband internet system. Starlink is the world’s largest satellite constellation and is providing fast, reliable internet to millions of users worldwide. We design, build, test, and operate all parts of the system – thousands of satellites, consumer receivers that allow users to connect within minutes of unboxing, and the software that brings it all together. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of Starlink’s potential global impact. As we continue to upgrade and expand the constellation, we’re looking for best-in-class engineers to join the team. 

As a Starlink Production Test Development Lead, you will lead a team of test engineers responsible for high-volume production test. In addition to insourced products you will also work with global contract manufacturers to ensure robust quality of millions of customer-facing 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 will be responsible for the design, implementation, and verification of development, production, and reliability test solutions. You will interact regularly with senior leadership to influence the fundamental operation of our products while collaborating with electrical, silicon, software, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to steer this project from initial concept development to full-scale production. 

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Lead a small team of test engineers developing fixtures, test cases and automated test solutions for our high-volume consumer phased arrays, WiFi routers, power supplies, and upcoming products 
• Develop and maintain Design For Test (DFT) guidelines and work with design teams to implement the guidelines on new products 
• Develop test strategies, perform thorough test coverage analyses, and conduct formal test strategy reviews with peer teams 
• Write automation software in Python to interact with units under test, test equipment, instrumentation, field data, and production documentation systems 
• Work closely with and consistently provide feedback to responsible design engineers, manufacturing engineers, and test lab teams to drive design or infrastructure improvements to increase product quality and yield 
• 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 experience with hardware development or electronics test engineering (internship and extracurricular experience is applicable) 
• 5+ years of object-oriented programming experience 

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: 

• 2+ years of experience with technical leadership
• Experience analyzing circuits, developing functional test plans, and performing test coverage analysis 
• Experience designing and troubleshooting PCBAs 
• Experience with test equipment and measurement techniques to verify and validate product requirements (oscilloscope, multimeter, electronic load, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, vector signal generator, source measurement unit, etc.) 
• Understanding of electrical schematics and electronics manufacturing to analyze and improve test coverage 
• Understanding of metrology, sources of measurement error, and uncertainty analysis 
• Experience interacting with repositories using Git commands 
• Thorough understanding of electronics reliability and failure mechanisms 
• Understanding and experience in environmental testing such as HALT/HASS, thermal, vibration and TVAC 
• Strong understanding of computers and programming languages (Python, C/C++) 
• Demonstrated ability to work in a highly cross-functional role 
• Basic understanding of networking concepts, Virtual LANs (VLANs) and Network Address Translation (NAT) 

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].