Design Criteria Engineer (Starshield) at SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA

Summary: 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. The Design Criteria Engineer will ensure that satellites achieve mission success with high reliability and will apply their technical expertise to develop design criteria and verification approaches for new satellite systems. Responsibilities: - Develop and own design criteria, requirements, and verification approaches for new satellite systems. Continuously improve these processes with stakeholder engagement - Perform critical peer review of hardware designs during design reviews, and of acceptance and qualification test campaigns, and approve plans based on the strength of technical justification that hardware is ready for launch - Guide engineers through the SpaceX design process and ensure design criteria/requirements are being followed for satellite design, manufacturing, and test activities - Provide development input such as analysis or test recommendations on a wide range of engineering problems encompassing electrical, structural, and radio frequency systems - Leverage involvement in broad spectrum of development efforts to be an expert resource for defining vehicle maturity status in key program reviews and communications - Proactively identify development risks, then implement and track mitigation plans - Develop and own long-term strategy to enable satellite and infrastructure changes, while providing daily engineering support and surge coverage for critical issues - Leverage comprehensive expertise in the satellite system architecture to ensure vehicle-wide and atomic changes improve rather than degrade the satellite - Review analysis and test validation approaches across a range of disciplines including electrical, mechanical, and radio frequency systems to build strong justifications for all changes - Own configuration management for the satellites to ensure bill of materials accuracy for both as-designed and as-built configurations and all changes therein - Provide critical input to ensure change implementation across the fleet of satellite variants is efficient and practical; ensure scope and impacts across design, manufacturing, supply chain, and test are identified and assigned; and follow-up to confirm thorough closure - Serve as the primary expert for tracking and conveying history of all changes and other system-level considerations in key program reviews and investigations - Develop specialized tools that enable design, analysis, and milestone tracking Required Qualifications: - Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline - 1+ years of experience in an engineering role (professional, project team, internship, or extracurricular experience all apply) Preferred Qualifications: - Advanced degree in an engineering discipline - 5+ years professional experience in an engineering role (design, analysis, test, or manufacturing) - Ability to be self-motivated in a demanding start-up atmosphere - Experience with aircraft, launch vehicles, spacecraft, or other aerospace systems - Experience with electrical or mechanical system design, analysis, testing, and fabrication for use in safety-critical or high-manufacturing-rate applications - Experience with make versus buy decisions for system components - Scripting and data analysis experience using Visual Basic, SQL, Matlab, Python, or Excel - Experience in using or maintaining enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems - Excellent written and verbal communication skills - Strong organization, attention to detail, and thoroughness - Must have an ongoing drive for continuous improvement in all aspects of work - Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, OR ability and willingness to obtain a Top Secret clearance is desired but not required - Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary - Ability to travel up to 10% of the time Required Skills: Satellite system design, Hardware design review, Design criteria development, Verification, validation, Electrical system design, Mechanical system design, Radio frequency system design, Test planning, execution, Configuration management, Risk mitigation, Scripting, data analysis, Visual Basic, SQL, Matlab, Python, Excel, Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, Aerospace systems, Make versus buy decision making Benefits: Long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, Potential discretionary bonuses, Ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, 401(k) retirement plan, Short and long-term disability insurance, Life insurance, Paid parental leave, Various other discounts and perks, 3 weeks of paid vacation, 10 or more paid holidays per year, Paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law