Avionics Test Engineer (Starship)
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Job Description
About SpaceX:
SpaceX was founded on the belief that a future where humanity explores the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we don’t. Their ultimate goal is to enable human life on Mars, actively developing the technologies to make this a reality.
Job Description: Avionics Test Engineer (Starship)
The Components Test team at SpaceX develops testing and manufacturing processes for advanced spacecraft avionics. Engineers serve as hardware experts for flight control devices and mechanisms, including inertial measurement units, network hardware, power distribution, and antennas. They design software and build systems to test flight components for maximum performance and reliability in extreme environments. Testing is a crucial quality check and final defense before flight.
As an Avionics Test Engineer, you’ll design and develop test systems to validate component performance in a cross-disciplinary environment. This includes creating new test systems and infrastructure from the ground up, encompassing hardware, software, and test sequences to cover all potential failure modes.
Responsibilities:
• Design, develop, and maintain custom test solutions for flight hardware (electronics, optics, RF antennas/modulators, electro-mechanical hardware).
• Select commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware or design custom PCBs to measure signals, apply flight-like loads, and power units under test.
• Write automation software in Python to interact with units under test, test equipment, instrumentation, and production documentation systems.
• Collaborate with design engineers, manufacturing engineers, and test lab teams to drive innovation in design and infrastructure, improving product reliability and yield.
• Root-cause test anomalies and failures, implementing mitigations.
Basic Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, electrical engineering, or a related engineering discipline with an electrical engineering/electronics emphasis.
• 1+ years of experience with electronic hardware or software development (academic projects, internships, and professional experience all considered).
• 1+ years of programming experience using Python, MATLAB, or Embedded C/C++.
Preferred Skills and Experience:
• Experience analyzing circuits and developing functional test plans.
• Experience designing and troubleshooting PCBs.
• Experience with test equipment (oscilloscopes, DMMs, DAQs) and measurement techniques.
• Object-oriented software development experience.
• Experience with RF test equipment (spectrum analyzers, vector network analyzers, signal generators).
• Understanding of electrical schematics and electronics manufacturing to analyze and improve test coverage.
• Understanding of metrology, measurement error sources, and uncertainty analysis.
• Understanding and experience in environmental testing (HALT, HASS, vibration, shock, thermal, TVAC, EMI/EMC).
Additional Requirements:
• Extended hours and weekend work may be required.
• Ability to lift heavy harnesses and fixtures.
