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Lead Electrical Hardware Reliability Engineer (Starshield)

SpaceX · Hawthorne, CA

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Level
Manager
Team
Reliability
Base pay
$165k–$230k
Degree
Required
Experience asked
3+ years
Industry
Aerospace & defense
Posted
30+ days ago

The role in 30 seconds

A management reliability role at SpaceX (aerospace & defense) in Hawthorne, CA. Lead and hire a team of electrical hardware reliability engineers supporting Starshield production.

They ask for
3+ years · degree required
Tools it names
Root cause, DOE
Base pay
$165k–$230k
Day to day
some off-shift / weekend coverage

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026

Reliability Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $115k–$165k. This one lists $165k–$230k.

Median of the low and high ends of 61 live postings that list pay, out of 130 reliability engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.

California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →

How this role compares

Against 129 other live reliability postings in California.

Base pay
About 41% above similar roles

Typical $115k–$165k, from 60 postings that list pay.

Experience asked
Less than usual (3+ vs 5+)

Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.

Skills these teams ask for most

  • ✓ Root cause 71%
  • FMEA 43%
  • ✓ New product launch 42%
  • Automation 32%
  • Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 28%
  • SPC 20%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

It asks for 3+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone doing this work there first.

At a glance

Off-shift / weekend coverage

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

  1. 1

    Pick 2–3 people on the Reliability team at SpaceX

    We found 3 people at this company and state: 2 in this kind of role, 1 leaders. Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. See them ↓

  2. 2

    Send a short, curious note

    One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.

    Write to Kevin → (free)
  3. 3

    Turn a reply into a short call

    Questions worth asking about this team:

    • What does a normal week look like on your team?
    • How does off-shift and weekend coverage work?
    • How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
  4. 4

    Apply with someone vouching for you

    If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.

  5. 5

    Bring proof to the interview

    One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

This plant: SpaceX in Hawthorne

66 other open roles at this site · 3 people we found in reliability roles at SpaceX.

All 67 roles at SpaceX →
Full description from SpaceXAs posted on their careers site.Show

Responsibilities

  • ◆Lead and hire a team of electrical hardware reliability engineers supporting Starshield production
  • ◆Provide technical mentorship and guidance to team members leading root cause investigations of electrical hardware
  • ◆Align goals and priorities with production and partner engineering teams to achieve program reliability and rate objectives
  • ◆Collaborate with team members to create personalized career growth plans that build their technical capabilities and accelerate progress toward their professional goals
  • ◆Drive corrective action to products not meeting design specifications through data driven decisions using yield and defect monitoring to identify common failure modes
  • ◆Proactively escalate major hardware concerns, secure appropriate resources, and maintain clear communication to drive timely resolution and team alignment
  • ◆Maintain thorough documentation of failure analysis findings, test results, and corrective actions
  • ◆Collaborate with on-orbit reliability team, driving timely improvements to production through on-orbit investigation findings

Qualifications

  • ✓Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, physics, or other engineering discipline
  • ✓3+ years of experience in hardware development, failure analysis, or reliability engineering (internships and co-ops acceptable)
  • ✓1+ years of experience leading a project, team, or people

Preferred skills and experience

  • ✓Strong analytical skills with an excellent ability to communicate and collaborate with partners in all disciplines at multiple levels in the organization
  • ✓Demonstrated ability to advocate for and implement robust solutions that stand the test of time
  • ✓Experience deploying large-scale and/or high impact solutions in a manufacturing environment
  • ✓Experience with digital and mixed-signal designs, power electronics, or RF electronics using oscilloscopes, signal generators, digital multimeters, power supplies, and soldering equipment
  • ✓Demonstrated experience troubleshooting and root causing electrical hardware failures
  • ✓PCBA Fabrication experience (familiar with solder, flux, underfill, staking, reflow, temperature control, etc.)
  • ✓Experience with environmental testing such as HALT/HASS, thermal, vibration, and TVAC
  • ✓Experience with RF test equipment (e.g. vector network analyzer, spectrum analyzer) and concepts such as S-parameters, impedance matching, and antenna designs
  • ✓Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance, or the ability and willingness to obtain one

Requirements

  • ✓Able to work extended hours and weekends as needed
  • ✓An active clearance may provide the opportunity for you to work on sensitive SpaceX missions; if so, you will be subject to pre-employment drug and random drug and alcohol tests

requirements

of the law.

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 .

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 indiv

Show full description ↓

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.

Lead electrical hardware reliability engineer (starshield)

Starshield leverages SpaceX’s Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts. While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use, with an initial focus on earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads.

This is an opportunity to build and lead an electrical hardware reliability team for Starshield. In addition to hiring top-notch electrical engineers you will work on identifying, analyzing, and resolving hardware failures to improve the robustness and longevity of our PCBAs. This role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams, including electrical, mechanical, software, and supply chain, to enhance the overall reliability of Starshield hardware. This is an opportunity to work on cutting-edge R&D technology and some of the most complex applications of electrical engineering in the industry

Pay Range

$165,000.00 - $230,000.00

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use

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