Lead Supplier Development Engineer, PCB/PCBA (Starshield)

About the role

SpaceX’s Starshield program leverages Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts, focusing on Earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. The Lead Supplier Development Engineer will build high‑performing suppliers for Starshield satellites, user terminals, and ground station products, ensuring reliability, cost, and delivery requirements while working across supply chain, engineering, design, operations, and production. The position is based in Hawthorne, CA, requires onsite work, may involve long hours and weekend work as needed, and may require up to 60% travel.

Responsibilities

• Develop a team responsible for building high‑performing suppliers for Starshield satellites, user terminals, and ground station products, ensuring reliability, cost, and delivery requirements to industrialize electronics hardware
• Work closely with supply chain, engineering, design, operations, and production to maintain consistency in supply chain policies and processes across the organization
• Lead a team of engineers to execute the following responsibilities:
  • Reliability: Implement the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) for hardware production qualification; analyze supplier quality data and partner with supplier development engineers to drive supplier improvements and manufacturing development program execution; create, improve, and implement supplier quality and manufacturing processes; review supplier issues and recommend appropriate actions; work closely with receiving, receiving inspection, supplier quality engineering, and assurance to purge suspect/nonconforming material from inventory and throughout the organization; coordinate and participate in localized material review board (MRB), root cause, failure analysis, and corrective action (8D); utilize various analysis tools and make corrective action and containment recommendations; oversee and be accountable for supplier audits to ensure suppliers can meet part performance, delivery, and reliability expectations
  • Manufacturing and Industrialization: Understand production processes and how purchased parts integrate into higher‑level assemblies; provide and implement Design for Manufacturing (DFM) feedback into designs; develop, analyze, and present process metrics to encourage design for manufacturability, quality, and supply chain improvements; analyze and improve supplier processes for bottlenecks, yield, and rate limiters to meet throughput