External Fleet Manager (Starbase)

SpaceX•Starbase, TX, TX

About The Position

The External Fleet Manager owns the contract and compliance posture for suppliers, construction contractors, equipment vendors, maintenance and repair contractors, and on-site service providers supporting Starship production, testing, and Starbase operations. The role turns operational needs into enforceable agreements, keeps contractual obligations and required flowdowns in force, manages contractor service levels, and closes compliance gaps that could interrupt deliveries, lifts, tests, or site access. The position manages agreements from initial need through closeout, including scope definition, commercial terms, negotiation support, execution, changes, claims, and closeout. It translates operational requests into statements of work, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and schedules. For critical equipment and site systems, it defines maintenance and repair contractor responsibilities and establishes and enforces service level agreements covering response and restoration times, uptime, parts availability, reporting, escalation, and outage follow-up. It tracks performance using records and applies contractual remedies when standards are missed. The manager builds and maintains compliance programs for the assigned portfolio, including obligation registers, milestone tracking, evidence files, supplier flowdowns, site-access gates, corrective actions, and audit-finding closure. The role reviews agreements, manages working-level changes and disputes, supports supplier selection and onboarding, controls export-controlled and proprietary information shared with suppliers, and reports contract and compliance metrics to operational leaders. It works cross-functionally with Legal, Procurement, Finance, Security, EHS, Quality, Maintenance, Engineering, and operational teams to ensure contract terms and controls reflect the work being performed. The role requires work in both office and active production, test, and construction areas while wearing required personal protective equipment, including an air-purifying respirator where required. Extended hours and weekends may be required when contract awards, deliveries, repairs, tests, or audits demand them. Applicants must meet the stated U.S. export-control eligibility requirements; the preferred qualifications also include eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in business, supply chain, engineering, or a related field, or 5+ years of experience in contracts, procurement, supplier management, export compliance, or regulatory compliance in manufacturing, construction, aerospace, defense, or heavy industry.
3+ years of experience in contracts, procurement, supplier management, export compliance, or regulatory compliance in manufacturing, construction, aerospace, defense, or heavy industry.
2+ years of experience as a people leader or owning a project portfolio.
Clear writing, sound judgment under schedule pressure, and the ability to communicate what is not authorized.
Ability to work in an office and active production, test, and construction areas while wearing required personal protective equipment, including an air-purifying respirator when required.
Willingness to work extended hours and weekends when contract awards, deliveries, repairs, tests, or audits require it.
Must satisfy the stated U.S. export-control eligibility requirements: be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, qualifying refugee or asylee, or be eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice To Haves

5+ years administering complex commercial or government contracts in a manufacturing, construction, test, or operational environment.
Experience managing maintenance, repair, or equipment-service contracts, including response time, restore time, uptime, and parts commitments.
Experience managing on-site contractor controls, including insurance, indemnification, site rules, safety and environmental flowdowns, and access requirements.
Hands-on experience writing and negotiating statements of work, changes, claims, and closeout packages with suppliers or construction contractors.
Experience enforcing service level agreements with evidence, service credits, and contractor corrective action when uptime or response targets are missed.
Working knowledge of ITAR and EAR, including technical data control, foreign-person access, and supplier authorization.
Experience with quality and configuration requirements flowed to suppliers, including nonconformance and corrective action.
Experience using a contract lifecycle, procurement, or ERP system such as SAP, and Microsoft Excel and Power BI for obligation and supplier reporting.
Familiarity with aerospace, heavy industrial, or construction work, including equipment, tooling, cranes, or site infrastructure contracts.
Ability to read a technical scope, a drawing package at a practical level, and a supplier proposal, and identify material gaps.
Experience preparing audit responses and holding a supplier to a dated corrective action plan.
Eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Responsibilities

Own the contract and compliance posture for assigned suppliers, construction contractors, equipment vendors, maintenance and repair contractors, and on-site service providers supporting Starship production, test, and Starbase operations.
Manage agreements from need through closeout, including scope, commercial terms, negotiation support, execution, change orders, amendments, claims, and closeout.
Translate operational requests into enforceable statements of work, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and schedules.
Own maintenance and repair contracts for critical equipment and site systems, defining contractor work, coverage hours, staged parts, and equipment hand-back condition.
Write and enforce maintenance and repair service level agreements covering technician response time, restoration time, uptime or availability, parts availability, reporting, escalation, and after-action requirements.
Track SLA performance using call logs, downtime records, and repair closeout, and apply contract remedies such as service credits, added coverage, or contractor replacement when standards are missed.
Coordinate with maintenance, reliability, crane operations, and production during breakdowns to ensure contractors are called under the correct agreement, work stays within scope, and equipment is restored against the SLA.
Review repeat repairs and SLA misses with maintenance and reliability, and change the scope, spare-parts requirements, or contractor when failures recur.
Build and maintain portfolio compliance programs, including contract obligation registers, milestone tracking, evidence files, and flowdown of customer, regulatory, quality, safety, environmental, insurance, export-control, and security requirements.
Verify site access, badging, training, and insurance before suppliers or contractors start work, and initiate corrective action when requirements, deliveries, repair windows, or site rules are missed.
Review new and revised agreements for missing clauses, conflicting terms, and supplier capability gaps, resolving issues with Procurement, Legal, Finance, and the requesting team.
Manage working-level contract changes, hold scope, price, and schedule to written agreements, and escalate disputes with a clear record.
Lead or support supplier and internal audits, assessments, and responses to customer, government, or internal findings; own closure of findings in the assigned portfolio.
Control export-controlled and proprietary information shared with suppliers, confirming authorization, marking, and need-to-know before data or hardware leaves SpaceX.
Onboard suppliers and statements of work, releasing them to work only after contract, compliance, insurance, quality, and site-access gates are met.
Support source selection with compliance and past-performance input, flagging supplier risks before award.
Define and track contract and compliance metrics, including cycle time, obligation aging, on-time delivery, SLA attainment, audit findings, and repeat noncompliance.
Provide production, test, maintenance, and site leaders with clear status on authorization, lateness, contractor service-level failures, and blockers.
Coordinate with Legal, Procurement, Finance, Security, EHS, Quality, Maintenance, and Engineering so contract terms, service levels, and compliance controls match operational work.