Reliability Engineer
About the role
The Reliability Engineer plays a critical role in supporting the design engineer community towards higher reliability of EEE components, avionics, and systems. This person ensures SpaceX can continue to use commercial electronics from a wide range of manufacturers, evaluates quality and reliability of components, addresses unforeseen component issues/failures, builds FEA models to simulate wearout, and provides design direction and reliability models to assess failure impact on orbit. The work impacts all stages of design and production and requires interfacing with supply chain, design engineers, manufacturing engineers, and production.
Responsibilities
- Use reliability physics‑of‑failure models and reliability statistics to assess mission risk and develop/implement accelerated tests to mitigate risks and qualify designs.
- Lead reliability test planning, methodology, and execution.
- Drive avionics EEE piece‑part reliability issues and risk towards closure.
- Drive analysis processes for all failures discovered during reliability testing.
- Build reliability prediction models/Finite Element Models to evaluate product functional performance over mission‑life conditions.
- Interface with SpaceX departments such as supply chain, design engineers, and production/manufacturing.
- Evaluate failure analysis and coordinate destructive physical analysis investigations to provide corrective actions and paths to closure.
- Analyze and model implementation options to inform electronics design for reliability, including material selections; PCB laminates, features (vias, pad, stack‑up, etc.) specifications, finishes; component attach; solder chemistry, reflow profile; underfill selections.
- Advise on HALT/HASS testing and reliability assessments for PCBA testing.
- Execute testing campaigns to assess reliability of hardware and components.
Basic Qualifications
- BS in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
- 5+ years of experience in semiconductor, package, and/or PCBA reliability.
- 2+ years of work experience with reliability modelling methods to predict product life, and statistical techniques to analyze test data.
Preferred Skills and Experience
- MS in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
- Understanding of accelerated testing methods, governing equations, and physics of failure for different failure mechanisms.
- Experience facilitating FMEAs and leading cross‑functional teams in reliability analysis, prediction, and correlation.
- Familiarity with reliability statistics, including Weibull analysis.
- Familiarity with FEA and PCB design analysis capability (Sherlock, ANSYS, or alternative).
- Robust determination of MTTF.
- Single Event Upset / Multiple Bit Upset (SEU/MBU) analysis.
- Experience with life testing methods (HALT/HASS, ESS, JESD47, AEC‑Q100).
Pay
Level 1: $105,000 – $145,000; Level 2: $120,000 – $175,000. Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case‑by‑case basis and may vary based on job‑related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.
Benefits
- Long‑term incentives (company stock or cash awards) and potential discretionary bonuses.
- Eligibility 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 and life insurance.
- Paid parental leave.
- Three weeks of paid vacation and ten or more paid holidays per year.
- Paid sick time (Washington State compliance).
- Company shuttles for round‑trip travel from select Seattle locations to the Redmond office, Monday‑Friday.
- Various discounts and perks.
Additional Requirements
- Available to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
ITAR Requirements
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, a U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157, an asylee under 8 U.S.C. 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.