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Hardware Reliability Engineer, Field Performance (Starlink Product)

Bastrop, 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.

HARDWARE RELIABILITY ENGINEER, FIELD PERFORMANCE (STARLINK PRODUCT)

Starlink believes in providing fast, reliable internet to serve populations with little or no connectivity. We design, build, launch, and operate the world's largest constellation of satellites, enabling us to operate a global internet network unbounded by traditional ground infrastructure limitations. Starlink also designs, builds, and delivers high-volume consumer hardware that allows users to be connected to these satellites within minutes of unboxing. The root of SpaceX’s success so far lies in our mission to keep all engineering and production in-house, which enables a tight feedback loop, nimble decision-making, and speedy deliverables. With over 5 million daily users worldwide already online, Starlink is truly a game changer and levels the playing field for those who were previously unconnected.

As a Hardware Reliability Engineer on the Starlink team, you will be responsible for performance and reliability of customer hardware (dish, router, power supply, cables), from telemetry analysis to hands-on electrical hardware failure analysis. Engineers in this role are expected to be intimately familiar with the design, manufacturing processes, test procedures, and data to customers. You will use this knowledge to troubleshoot customer issues, run investigations under pressure, root-cause defective hardware, and build out both dashboards and custom tools which give ever-improving visibility into the fleet’s performance and our customers’ experience.

This is a high visibility role which feeds into future product design, is involved in product launches, and one where you will regularly communicate findings to senior leadership.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Become a Wi-Fi field performance expert
  • Perform hands-on debugging to drive to root cause and corrective action of failed phased-array, Wi-Fi routers, and power supply PCBAs
  • Lead technical investigations with tight timelines by diving into isolated or fleet-wide performance or reliability issues which affect our customers and present findings to executives
  • Build and maintain critical tools and custom software to objectively assess the performance and reliability of Starlink customer hardware
  • Run internal betas and product launches to identify and resolve any design issues in the hardware or software of new products ahead of their public launch
  • Build relationships and collaborate across disciplines including engineering, production, test, inventory, quality, supply chain, and customer experience to drive positive business outcomes
  • Consistently contribute effort, leadership, and creative thinking to solving complex problems in a collaborative fashion and under tight deadlines

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, RF engineering, computer engineering, computer science, mathematics, or other STEM discipline
  • 1+ years of experience working with digital or mixed-signal designs, using oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, power supplies, and/or soldering equipment (includes internships and school projects)
  • Experience in networking technologies including but not limited to: Ethernet protocols and Wi-Fi standards
  • 1+ years of experience with data analysis in Python/R

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • 1+ year of experience in consumer electronics or similar industry
  • Experience troubleshooting electronics hardware
  • Proficiency at understanding PCB schematics and layout tools
  • Experience with engineering projects in any one or more of the following areas: CPU/FPGA/ASIC circuit boards, Linux, high speed interfaces, memories, and/or low power platforms
  • Experience with basic principles of antenna theory, RF antennas, and communication systems
  • Experience troubleshooting RF communication systems including Wi-Fi
  • Understanding of service provider and home networks technologies including but not limited to:
    • Connectivity (Ethernet, Wi-Fi, WDM, IPv4, and IPv6)
    • Internet services (DNS, DHCP, NTP, UPnP, NAT etc.)
    • Knowledge and troubleshooting about most common consumer devices (NAS, IoT, Smart devices, etc.)
    • Experience working within complex, software defined networking (SDN) and/or network function virtualization (NFV) environments
  • 1+ years of experience with SQL
  • Strong coding skills: clean, efficient, and well-documented code with a foundation in software design principles
  • Experience in a technical operational role in a live service or high-volume production environment (eg consumer goods, automotive)
  • Ability to work effectively in a dynamic environment that includes working with changing needs and requirements

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

  • This position is based in Bastrop, TX (near Austin) and requires being on-site; remote work not considered
  • Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed to meet deadlines
  • Must be willing to travel (up to 20%)

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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To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

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