Automation & Controls Engineer, Launch Hardware Production (Starship)

SpaceX•Cape Canaveral, FL

2d•Onsite

About The Position

This role owns the controls that build Starship, designing, commissioning, and operating automation for production systems. The work covers a 24-lane, 750,000-square-foot Starship Refurbishment facility (Gigabay), industrial air separation units upstream of the propellant farms, and heat shield tile manufacturing. The controls team owns this scope end to end, from specifying instrumentation and programming PLCs to commissioning equipment and supporting it in production. Engineers diagnose and resolve equipment issues and improve systems to prevent recurrence. The position is based at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It includes supporting controls technicians and cross-functional engineering teams, maintaining control-voltage electrical systems, making sensor and PLC data useful to factory operators and engineers, and improving system reliability, cost, installation time, and recovery time. The role may require extended hours and weekend work during commissioning or production needs, and travel to other SpaceX or third-party facilities up to 25%.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in physics, electrical engineering, or computer engineering.
At least 6 months of experience working with data acquisition systems; internship or project experience qualifies.
Ability to pass an Air Force background check for Cape Canaveral.
Ability to perform duties involving standing, kneeling, crouching, twisting, and working in cramped positions and small openings.
Ability to regularly climb stairs and ladders throughout the day.
Ability to lift lightweight supplies or materials up to 25 pounds unassisted.
Availability to work extended hours and weekends when commissioning or production needs require it.
Ability to travel to other SpaceX or third-party facilities up to 25%.
Must meet applicable U.S. export authorization requirements: be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, or be eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ability to design, implement, commission, and troubleshoot industrial control and data acquisition hardware.
Hands-on PLC and industrial network experience, such as Modbus, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, or equivalent.
Experience commissioning process or factory equipment and supporting it after it enters production.
Working knowledge of instrumentation in classified and cryogenic service, including NFPA 70, NFPA 70E, Class I, Division 1 and Division 2, or IEC equivalent.
Fundamental understanding of plant equipment, including sensors, valves, drives, analyzers, power distribution, grounding, and signal integrity.
Familiarity with mixed-signal electronics, schematic capture, and PCB design, verification, or validation when custom hardware is appropriate.
Programming experience beyond ladder sufficient to move data out of a controller and into a tool the factory can use.
Knowledge of high-reliability build, test, and documentation practices.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Strong work ethic, a bias for finishing, and ability to change roles quickly in a fast-paced environment.
Ability to drive work with incomplete information and keep several systems moving at once.
Passion for making the hardware that makes flight rate possible.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and commission controls for the 24-lane Gigabay, including production tooling, lifts, fixtures, factory services, and the factory data layer.
Bring industrial air separation units online and maintain them, including instrumentation, interlocks, and control narratives for compression, cold box, distillation, storage, and transfer into propellant farms.
Own controls for heat shield tile manufacturing, including thermal process equipment, material handling, inspection, and data linking process settings to tile quality.
Bring new equipment from first power-on through production rate and own its uptime once operational.
Develop and upgrade data acquisition and control systems as the factory, air separation plant, and tile line change.
Maintain the operational capability of control-voltage (<60V) electrical systems after activation.
Turn sensor and PLC data into actionable information for operators and responsible engineers during the same shift.
Support controls technicians and the mechanical, facilities, and process engineers who rely on these systems.
Design hardware and work methods to reduce cost, installation time, and the time needed to recover a down line.
Analyze data to assess electrical and process system health and drive improvements.