{"id":1772575,"url":"https://alion.io/job/spacex-electric-propulsion-engineer-avionics-starshield","title":"Electric Propulsion Engineer, Avionics (Starshield)","company":{"id":66,"name":"SpaceX","domain":"spacex.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/spacex","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":93,"open_postings":30,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":84,"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"}},"role":"Aerospace","role_family":"Aerospace","seniority":"junior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Hawthorne, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":105000,"max":140000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":140000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":1,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-23T16:02:39Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-29","last_verified_at":"2026-10-24T02:26:53Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":30,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":30},"description":"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.\nELECTRIC PROPULSION ENGINEER, AVIONICS (STARSHIELD)\nStarshield 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.\nSpaceX is hiring an Electric Propulsion Engineer (avionics focus) to join a collaborative engineering team working on design, analysis, build, and test of high-volume, flight-qualified satellite electric propulsion systems. In this role you will contribute end-to-end hardware ownership of propulsion power-processing and control electronics-from design through production support and qualification-for hardware that must meet flight reliability requirements.\nRESPONSIBILITIES:\nDesign, analyze, test, and provide operational support for high-volume production spacecraft electric propulsion avionics (power-processing and control electronics that drive thrusters, heaters, and propellant-feed actuators)\nLead or contribute to electrical architecture, specification, component selection, circuit-board design, implementation, verification, board bring-up, and debugging (depth in several of these areas is expected over time; prior ownership of every step is not required)\nDesign, develop, and test propulsion electronics, including characterization, requirements generation and verification, and flight qualification\nPartner with firmware/software, mechanical, thermal, manufacturing, and production-test teams\nDesign, build, modify, operate, and troubleshoot electric propulsion electronics and associated test setups, including vacuum-chamber electrical interfaces, high-voltage supplies, data acquisition and control systems, harnessing, and instrumentation\nAnalyze and review ground-test and flight data with numerical tools (e.g., Python, MATLAB) to confirm hardware is operating as expected and inform design decisions; develop scripts as needed\nLead root-cause investigations and board or component redesigns to improve reliability and/or production rates\nDevelop and execute qualification test plans for flight readiness (vibration, shock, thermal cycle, EMI/EMC, life cycle, fault injection)\nEvaluate design and qualification coverage for new vehicles and missions; close gaps with targeted analysis or test\nMake risk-informed trades across cost, lead time, reliability, and performance to meet program reliability targets for flight hardware\nOwn critical spaceflight hardware end-to-end, with support from manufacturing, reliability, test, firmware, and operations teams\nWork as an integrated team, with daily interactions among technicians, engineers, and managers; identify and implement design and process improvements\nCommunicate clearly under ambiguity, escalate technical and schedule risks early, and collaborate through disagreement\nBASIC QUALIFICATIONS:\nBachelor's degree in electrical, aerospace, physics, mechanical, or other engineering discipline preferred \n1+ years of total experience in one or a combination of the following: professional or internship experience designing, testing, and analyzing power electronics, analog/mixed-signal, or spacecraft avionics; academic research with comparable design/build/test ownership of power supplies, plasma or electric-propulsion power processing, high-voltage, or control electronics; or closely related hardware experience (e.g., motor drives, converters, RF/power, or instrumentation for vacuum or plasma systems) \nPREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: \nDemonstrated delivery of hardware for aerospace, defense, space, or equivalent high-reliability or safety-critical use (lab, flight, or production; new design or iterative redesign)\nExperience with mixed-signal or power electronics bring-up, characterization, and debug\nWorking knowledge of analog and power electronics, high-voltage design, circuit protection, EMI/EMC, and numerical analysis programming (e.g., Python, MATLAB); control loops, plasma or nonlinear electrical loads, schematic/layout review, vacuum operation, and C/C++ as applicable (depth in several of these areas is valued; mastery of all is not expected)\nExperience prioritizing concurrent design, build, and test work against flight and production milestones\nClear documentation habits appropriate for flight hardware\nTrack record of improving designs and processes for reliability, rate, or quality\nActive Top Secret or Top Secret/SCI clearance, or ability and willingness to obtain a Top Secret clearance, is desired but not required\nADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:\nAn active clearance may provide the opportunity to work on sensitive SpaceX missions; if so, you will be subject to pre-employment drug and random drug and alcohol testing\nAbility to perform essential job duties that may include working in and around vacuum chambers and high-voltage test areas-standing, kneeling, crouching, twisting the upper body, working in cramped positions in small openings, and climbing hand-over-hand. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the role\nAbility to travel up to 10% of the time\nThis role is primarily on-site to support hands-on test facility and hardware work (location per posting)\nCOMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:\nPay Range:\nLevel 1: $105,000.00 - $140,000.00\nLevel 2: $120,000.00 - $170,000.00\nYour actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.\nBase 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.\nThose with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.\nITAR REQUIREMENTS:\nTo 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. \nSpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and 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.\nApplicants 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 should reach out to .","description_format":"text","description_chars":7856,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":1,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Life insurance","Parental leave","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Satellite Communications","Launch Services","Satellite Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-03T15:42:31Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":59,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.825,"p_room":0.72,"age_days":29,"expected_fill_days":84,"reasons":["conf:1","velocity","win:mid","crowd:junior,brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":140000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacex-electric-propulsion-engineer-avionics-starshield","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacex-electric-propulsion-engineer-avionics-starshield.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-24T03:55:47Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":6175,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-25T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":66},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=66"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fspacex-electric-propulsion-engineer-avionics-starshield"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fspacex-electric-propulsion-engineer-avionics-starshield"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fspacex-electric-propulsion-engineer-avionics-starshield"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/spacex-electric-propulsion-engineer-avionics-starshield\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fspacex-electric-propulsion-engineer-avionics-starshield"}]}