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Lead Electrical Hardware Reliability Engineer (Starshield)

Lead and build an electrical hardware reliability team for SpaceX's Starshield, focusing on enhancing hardware robustness and longevity.

Location
Hawthorne, CA
Compensation
$140k–$205k/yr
Level
lead
Type
full time

Posted by employer 3 months ago

First seen on Joblaze 3 months ago

Last verified on the company career page 21 hours ago

Requirements

Experience
3+ years
Education
Bachelor's degree
Visa
Sponsorship available

Not disclosed in this posting: work arrangement.

Benefits

401k Match Paid Vacation Paid Sick Leave Equity/Stock Options Paid Holidays Health Insurance Parental Leave

Joblaze summary

The Lead Hardware Reliability Engineer for SpaceX's Starshield will oversee a team focused on enhancing the reliability of electrical hardware, tackling hardware failures through rigorous analysis and collaboration with various engineering disciplines. This role requires a strong background in hardware development and reliability engineering, along with leadership experience to guide team members in their technical growth. Ideal candidates will have a solid foundation in electrical engineering and experience with complex systems, making this position suitable for those with a few years of relevant experience and a passion for cutting-edge technology.

Joblaze insights

  • Listed about 3 months ago — first seen on Joblaze July 17, 2026. Last confirmed on SpaceX's careers page October 29, 2026.
  • Salary band is in line with the typical range for comparable tech roles (median ~$128,000).
  • Starts above 39% of 229 comparable lead other roles in United States we track (median $150,000 across 80 companies).
  • Electrical Engineering appears in 2.3% of 640 comparable lead other roles in United States; vibration testing appears in 0.2% of 640 comparable lead other roles in United States.

Quick facts

What's the salary range?
SpaceX lists $140,000–$205,000 for this role.
How much experience is required?
At least 3 years of relevant experience for this Lead Electrical Hardware Reliability Engineer (Starshield) role.
What's the tech stack?
Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: Digital Electronics, Electrical Engineering, HALT, HASS, Mixed-Signal Designs, PCBAs.
Does SpaceX sponsor work visas for this role?
Yes — the posting indicates visa sponsorship is available for the right candidate.
What seniority level is this role?
SpaceX targets lead candidates for this position.
Is this full-time or contract?
Full-time for this Lead Electrical Hardware Reliability Engineer (Starshield) role at SpaceX.

From the original posting

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

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

BASIC 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

ADDITIONAL 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

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay Range:
$165,000.00 - $230,000.00

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 requirements of the law.

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

Standard company text repeated across SpaceX's postings is omitted here.

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