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Manager, Workforce Development (Operations Training) (Starship)

Starbase, TX

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.

MANAGER, OPERATIONS TRAINING (STARSHIP)

The Workforce Development Manager is responsible for equipping Starship employees with the skills and knowledge needed to meet aggressive build, test, and flight targets with increasing reliability and efficiency. This leader will oversee a multidisciplinary team of training engineers, specialists, and trainers to deliver onboarding, new capability development, and performance-based training solutions. This role bridges workforce readiness with operational excellence by embedding training systems directly into production and leveraging data-driven prioritization of training informed by those root-cause insights.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Training Program Development & Execution:

  • Lead the development and continuous improvement of onboarding and job qualification programs to ensure inspectors, technicians, and welders are productive, compliant, and competent.
  • Drive risk-based prioritization of training initiatives linked to safety, quality, and throughput drivers.
  • Develop and maintain training content in collaboration with engineering, production, and quality SMEs.
  • Establish and execute remedial training programs tied to workmanship trends, audit findings, and defect root cause data.
  • Deploy a mix of instructor-led, on-the-job, and virtual learning programs using internal tools and LMS platforms.

Operational Integration:

  • Serve as the operational owner of workforce readiness metrics tied to daily, weekly, and campaign-level production milestones.
  • Align training resources, curricula, and cycles to the shifting demands of high-rate production, test, and flight operations.
  • Partner with operations engineers, production leaders, and HR to integrate training planning into hiring, crew structures, takt planning, and rework reduction strategies.

Leadership & Strategic Planning:

  • Build, coach, and lead a team of technical trainers, instructional designers, training specialists, and training engineers to drive talent development, performance feedback, and leadership growth within the team.
  • Define long-range workforce development strategies that align with production ramp goals and capability evolution.
  • Build executive-level dashboards and KPIs linking training effectiveness to safety, quality, and performance indicators.
  • Own the organizational knowledge base for technician best practices and process-specific know-how.

Analytics & Decision Support:

  • Apply operational and statistical analysis to training outcomes using production and quality data, identifying predictive indicators of training needs.
  • Develop models to prioritize training interventions based on throughput impact, cost of nonconformance, and technician development velocity.
  • Build and manage dashboards using tools like Tableau and SQL to enable proactive, data-driven training actions.

Outreach & Educational Partnerships:

  • Partner with SpaceX recruiting and community engagement teams to build strong, mutually beneficial relationships with local community colleges, trade schools, and universities.
  • Support the development of pipeline programs that feed skilled technicians and engineering talent into Starbase operations, including apprenticeships, co-ops, and curriculum alignment initiatives.
  • Collaborate with academic institutions to align vocational and technical training with SpaceX's operational requirements and emerging workforce needs.
  • Represent SpaceX at career fairs, advisory boards, and educational consortiums to promote awareness of technical career paths at Starbase.
  • Facilitate instructor site visits, student tours, and hands-on training collaborations that strengthen long-term talent pipelines.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

  • Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline.
  • 4+ years of experience in a high-rate manufacturing or engineering environment.
  • 2+ years of experience leading training or operations teams in a technical context.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

  • Experience developing and delivering training in regulated environments (e.g., AS9100, ISO9001).
  • Strong understanding of industrial engineering, manufacturing systems, or operations research.
  • Proficiency with learning management systems (LMS), training content development tools, and data visualization platforms (Tableau, Power BI).
  • Experience translating manufacturing or workmanship performance data into training action plans.
  • Demonstrated success onboarding large technical teams and improving productivity through training.
  • Excellent executive communication, stakeholder alignment, and program management skills.
  • Hands-on familiarity with manufacturing or flight hardware environments.
  • Experience implementing change management and configuration control in training contexts.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Must be comfortable working in production and test environments that include exposure to noise, fumes, or confined spaces.
  • Flexibility in schedule to support off-shift teams, test campaigns, and critical path activities.
  • Physical ability to occasionally support training in hardware or outdoor environments.

 

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

  • To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.  

SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to EEOCompliance@spacex.com. 

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