Electrical Engineer, Hardware Reliability (Starlink)

SpaceX•Bastrop, TX

6h•Onsite

About The Position

The Electrical Engineer will join Starlink’s hardware reliability team, working at the intersection of electrical, firmware, RF, and manufacturing engineering. The role focuses on hardware failure analysis, root cause investigation, and driving design and process changes to improve reliability across Starlink devices, particularly during product launches and in response to field returns. The team works across high-speed digital communication, RF systems, power electronics, PCBA manufacturing, cabling, connectors, and test boards used for electrical piece-part failure analysis. The engineer will help qualify new designs and manufacturing lines, investigate failures in Starlink hardware, and partner with design, software, test, and manufacturing teams to deliver reliable products.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, electrical engineering technology, or computer engineering.
At least 1 year of experience working with digital or mixed-signal designs and using oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, power supplies, and/or soldering equipment; internships and school projects count.
Experience with PCBA manufacturing processes and assembly, including SMT reflow, wave solder, and selective solder.
Ability to work extended hours, weekends, and offsite as needed.
Willingness to travel up to 30% for work.
Must be willing to relocate to the Austin-Bastrop area if not already local; remote or hybrid work is not considered.
Must meet U.S. export-control eligibility requirements: be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Nice To Haves

At least 1 year of experience in consumer electronics or a similar industry.
Experience troubleshooting electronics hardware and/or RF communication systems.
Demonstrated ability to take on ill-defined problems and drive positive outcomes.
Familiarity with programming and automation or scripting languages, such as Python, C++, or SQL, or ability to learn them quickly.
Proficiency in understanding PCB schematics and layout tools.
Engineering project experience in one or more of the following areas: CPU/FPGA/ASIC circuit boards, Linux, high-speed interfaces, memories, or low-power platforms.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Self-starter attitude, energy, and ability to communicate effectively across business and technical disciplines.
Experience in a fast-paced, iterative design environment in consumer electronics, mobile handsets, medical devices, aerospace, marine, or automotive industries.

Responsibilities

Own qualification and testing of new electrical designs and SMT manufacturing lines for high-volume production.
Perform hands-on debugging to determine root cause and corrective actions for failures involving phased-array antennas, Wi-Fi routers, power-supply PCBAs, and cables, including failures found in testing, production, or the field.
Use diagnostic tools such as oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, X-ray machines, logic analyzers, and custom firmware scripts to investigate electronics.
Develop tools and identify equipment that improve the team’s ability to determine electronics root causes quickly.
Lead hardware failure investigations under high pressure, coordinate across teams, and communicate findings to leadership.
Analyze telemetry data to better understand hardware failures.
Drive design and process changes to improve reliability based on test, production, or field failures.
Perform electrical bench testing and develop engineering models of failures to replicate anomalies and inform mitigation.
Determine root causes of PCBA production yield issues and prevent defective hardware from escaping the factory.
Document failure modes and use data to continually improve reliability.
Partner with design, software, test, and manufacturing engineering teams to inform product and hardware design and test coverage.