Supplier Quality Specialist (Starship Supply Chain)

SpaceX•Hawthorne, CA

About The Position

The Supplier Quality Specialist supports the Starship supply chain by improving supplier quality and reducing non-conformances, supply-chain risk, and recurring production issues. The role owns production non-conformances, including lot triage and corrective actions, and works with vendors to strengthen processes and performance. It also manages containment, receiving, and precision-inspection issues while improving the processes and variables that influence the overall issue-ticket landscape. The specialist provides technical support at supplier sites as appropriate and collaborates with engineering, procurement, production, and supply-chain reliability teams to ensure parts and services meet requirements. The role analyzes quality metrics, assesses supplier manufacturing processes and quality systems, supports supplier onboarding and audits, and offers feedback on manufacturing methods and technologies throughout the supplier product lifecycle. The position executes supply-chain non-conformance processes, including SDR, MRB, return to vendor (RTV), supplier corrective and preventive action (CAPA), and production issue-ticket review. It supports containment and root-cause analysis, helps mitigate flight risk, builds cross-functional relationships, and contributes to policies, standards, processes, and documentation. Travel may be required up to 25% of the work week, and extended hours or weekend work may be needed to meet critical deadlines.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalency certificate.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering or supply chain, or at least 2 years of professional experience in engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, or a quality field in lieu of a degree.
Ability to travel up to 25% of the work week.
Ability to work extended hours and weekends when needed to meet critical deadlines.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or supply chain.
Experience sharing information and influencing others.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including cross-functional internal and external liaison work and presentations to team members and management.
Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and technical requirements.
Deep technical domain experience in one or more commodity types, such as machined, avionics, or composite parts.
Experience reading engineering drawings, including Geometric Dimension and Tolerance (GD&T).
Experience with AS9100 or a similar quality-management-system standard.
Knowledge of supplier-quality processes, such as part or supplier approval processes and First Article Inspection Reports.
Direct experience interfacing with suppliers, corrective/preventive action systems, and supplier portals.
Experience in a supplier-development capacity.
Proficiency in MS Office applications.
Proficiency with lean concepts and statistical and data analytics.

Responsibilities

Improve the issue-ticket landscape for assigned products and identify actions to improve vendor performance.
Own production non-conformances, triage lots, and drive corrective actions with vendors.
Partner with vendors to institute processes and actions that reduce issues and supply-chain risk.
Improve quality-management processes and supplier performance.
Manage containment, receiving, and precision-inspection non-conformances and drive their resolution.
Identify process improvements that reduce the overall issue-ticket landscape and create a more stable supply base.
Provide technical support onsite at suppliers as appropriate to ensure part reliability.
Work with engineering, procurement, and production teams to ensure high-quality parts and services meet requirements.
Analyze quality metrics to identify trends and systemic root causes.
Partner with supply-chain reliability engineers to eliminate recurring non-conformances, ensure part reliability, and develop supplier improvement plans.
Review supplier manufacturing processes and quality systems, including new-supplier onboarding and audit evaluation.
Provide feedback on manufacturing methods and technologies during the supplier product lifecycle.
Execute supply-chain non-conformance processes, including SDR, MRB, RTV, supplier CAPA, and production issue-ticket review.
Support containment of non-conforming products, including locating affected product, coordinating actions to mitigate flight risk, and driving root-cause analysis.
Build relationships across SpaceX and with cross-functional groups to identify, reduce, and eliminate impacts from vendor defects.
Assist in developing policies, standards, processes, and documentation.

Benefits

Potential eligibility for long-term incentives in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards.
Potential discretionary bonuses.
Ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
Comprehensive medical coverage.
Vision coverage.
Dental coverage.
401(k) retirement plan.
Short- and long-term disability insurance.
Life insurance.
Paid parental leave.
Various other discounts and perks.
Up to 3 weeks of accrued paid vacation.
10 or more paid holidays per year.
Paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy.