Manufacturing Engineer (Starlink Development)

SpaceX•Bastrop, TX

About The Position

As a Manufacturing Engineer on SpaceX’s Starlink Development Operations team, you will own how Starlink hardware is built. You will lead factory projects that bring new tooling and automation onto the floor, write standard work, and design fabrication and integration processes to improve throughput, quality, and safety in the shop and with internal customers and local tooling and fabrication vendors. You will work closely with Starlink product engineering, automation, supply chain, and shop leadership, representing manufacturing across those teams. You will drive changes to processes, tooling, planning, and shop organization to improve fabrication and integration flow, while taking ownership of deliverables, schedule adherence, and alignment with program milestones.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in manufacturing, mechanical, industrial, or a related engineering discipline.
At least 2 years of experience in manufacturing engineering, tooling design, automation cell build, and/or production of mechanical or electrical hardware systems; internship and collegiate extracurricular engineering project experience qualifies.
Willingness to work extended hours and/or overtime as needed.
Some travel to outside vendors may be required, up to 10%.
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 U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice To Haves

At least 2 years of experience leading manufacturing projects and implementing design for manufacture and design for assembly on electromechanical systems.
Experience commissioning automated cells or other production equipment and completing buyoff with production or project stakeholders.
Experience in the tooling or factory automation industry, such as at a tooling supplier, automation integrator, equipment OEM, or in-house tooling and automation team.
Experience transitioning products from design to manufacturing (new product introduction) as part of a cross-functional team in a fast-paced, iterative design environment.
Knowledge of Statistical Process Control and experience applying statistical methods to track process capability.
Competency with SQL databases and use of AI tools to compile data and make engineering decisions.
Experience designing and releasing production tooling, including fixtures, workholding, gauges, and poke-yoke features.
Hands-on engineering approach and a passion for continuous improvement.
Ability to solve complex problems with little to no supervision, on schedule, individually or as part of an integrated team.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

Act as the primary liaison between automation, supply chain, production, and development operations to ensure factory tooling and automation are built and deployed to meet program milestones.
Develop and implement manufacturing processes and shop workflows that improve throughput, efficiency, and personnel safety.
Manage the build, configuration, and installation of modular automation assets, from raw-material purchase through cell build, integration, and handoff to automation and production.
Work with engineering and support teams to drive design updates in response to manufacturing issues, tooling constraints, part obsolescence, and requirement changes.
Prepare engineering documentation for transitioning hardware from development to production, including assembly and integration work instructions and manufacturing bills of materials.
Work with internal and external suppliers to fabricate piece parts and subassemblies at rate or supplement internal capacity.
Contribute manufacturing expertise to design reviews, including design for manufacturability, reliability, and maintenance, as well as shop capability and quality control.
Lead manufacturing strategy, including cycle time and make-versus-buy decisions, to meet or exceed departmental objectives without compromising quality.
Design, develop, validate, and implement production tooling to make processes repeatable and efficient.
Serve as the primary point of contact for nonconforming product on cells, panels, and tooling; lead troubleshooting, root-cause investigations, and corrective actions.
Develop training requirements for technicians and specialists to improve team capability, productivity, and safety.
Lead machine-tool purchases to increase development shop capability, including machine selection, proposal creation, ROI calculation, and coordination with shop supervisors to meet program needs.
Challenge requirements, remove blockers, and accelerate program schedules in support of SpaceX goals.