Sr. Supplier Quality Specialist, Data Center (Starlink) - Memphis
SpaceX · Memphis, TN
- Level
- Senior
- Team
- Quality
- Travel
- 30%
- Degree
- Required
- Experience asked
- 4+ years
- Industry
- Aerospace & defense
- Posted
- 30+ days ago
The role in 30 seconds
A senior quality role at SpaceX (aerospace & defense) in Memphis, TN. Execute supply chain non-conformance management processes, including SDR, MRB, return to vendor (RTV), FAI support/review, PPAP support, and supplier corrective and preventive action (CAPA).
- They ask for
- 4+ years · degree required
- Tools it names
- Lean, Six Sigma, Root cause, FMEA, PPAP, CAPA
- Day to day
- about 30% travel
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026
Quality Engineer roles in Tennessee: typical posted base $80k–$120k.
Median of the low and high ends of 8 live postings that list pay, out of 24 quality engineer openings in Tennessee, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
Tennessee plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 23 other live quality postings in Tennessee.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- Less than usual (4+ vs 5+)
Typical $80k–$120k, from 8 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Root cause 50%
- ✓ Lean 38%
- ✓ Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 38%
- ✓ Supplier quality 33%
- Team leadership 33%
- SPC 29%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for GD&T, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
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
Pick 2–3 people on the Quality team at SpaceX
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 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.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Which standards drive the work here: ISO 13485, IATF 16949, AS9100?
- How much of the job is customer complaints versus prevention?
- The posting says about 30% travel. Between which sites?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 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
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 Memphis
1 other open role at this site.
- Sr. Supplier Development Engineer, Data Center (Starlink) - Memphis · Quality · Senior
Full description from SpaceXAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Responsibilities
- ◆Execute supply chain non-conformance management processes, including SDR, MRB, return to vendor (RTV), FAI support/review, PPAP support, and supplier corrective and preventive action (CAPA).
- ◆Analyze supplier quality data and partner with supply chain engineers, design, materials, and infrastructure teams to drive supplier improvements and root cause corrective actions.
- ◆Build relationships with cross-functional groups to identify, reduce, and ultimately eliminate impacts from vendor defects on data center hardware reliability, installation, and operations.
- ◆Support assessment of supplier manufacturing processes and quality systems; help define and enforce supplier technical and quality
requirements
based on reliability lessons learned.
- ✓Assist the team in developing policies, standards, processes, and documentation as necessary to ensure continued success and continuous improvement.
- ✓Provide support for reliability-focused activities such as contributing to design FMEA insights, validation feedback, and ongoing quality monitoring for high-density compute, cooling, and power systems.
Qualifications
- ✓High school diploma or equivalency certificate.
- ✓4+ years of experience in engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, or quality field.
Preferred skills and experience
- ✓Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, supply chain, or related field.
- ✓Good written, oral, and presentation skills.
- ✓Experience reading engineering drawings, including geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).
- ✓Experience with AS9100, ISO 9001, or similar quality management system standards.
- ✓Previous experience working with suppliers, corrective/preventive action systems, supplier portals, FAI, and PPAP.
- ✓Experience with MS Excel, SQL, process flow mapping, warehouse management systems, lean production environments, and Six Sigma training.
- ✓Familiarity with data center hardware (racks, PDUs, cooling systems, servers/switches, high-density compute integration), thermal/mechanical/electrical domains, or reliability methods.
- ✓Exposure to statistical data analysis, failure analysis techniques, or environmental/reliability testing concepts.
Requirements
- ✓Position is based in Memphis, TN and requires being onsite—remote work not considered.
- ✓Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed to meet critical deadlines.
- ✓Ability to travel: Up to 30% of the work week may be required.
- ✓Valid driver’s license.
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 individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process sho
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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.
Sr. supplier quality specialist, data center (starlink) - memphis
SpaceX is on a mission to create AI systems that can accurately understand the universe and aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. We are building some of the world’s most technically advanced facilities and data centers, which demand a new type of supply chain. Our suppliers must deliver premium quality hardware and components with rapidly evolving designs at commercial scale volumes, while meeting extreme reliability, availability, and serviceability requirements.
We are looking for candidates who possess comprehensive knowledge of manufacturing and quality tools and have unrelenting motivation to enable suppliers for success. This position supports the Supply Chain Reliability organization by managing tactical supplier quality activities with operational rigor, providing high service levels to all stakeholders, and allowing the broader team to focus on high-priority and proactive actions. This includes eliminating the impact of vendor-caused defects on data center engineering, manufacturing, installation, and operations through rapid defect containment, resolution, and corrective/preventive action.
Primarily, you will uncover non-conformances onsite (or at supplier facilities) and work with cross-functional teams to improve vendor quality for data center hardware, including rack-level solutions, power distribution, cooling systems, compute/storage/networking components, and related infrastructure. You will help create and refine structures for executing and improving processes used to manage supplier deviation requests (SDR), material review board (MRB), supplier part containments, first article inspections (FAI), Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) activities, and supplier corrective and preventive actions (CAPA). You will drive operational excellence in supplier non-conformance management and work to reduce future non-conformances. You will build an extensive network within design engineering, reliability, manufacturing, infrastructure, production, and supply chain management, while developing a deep understanding of SpaceX data center systems and processes.