Harness Design Engineer (Starshield) Verified today

About Starshield

Starshield leverages SpaceX's satellite technology and launch capability to support national security efforts. It is designed for government use, with an initial focus on earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads.

The Role

You will own harness design from early stages of developing vehicle electrical connectivity through component selection, qualification, production, and flight. This role is highly multidisciplinary and will give you direct exposure to high-level vehicle architecture and systems integration.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the responsible engineer for satellite avionics interconnection systems, owning outcomes across design, integration, test, production, launch, and in-orbit operations
• Architect system designs by specifying harness/channel capabilities, power and network connectivity, fault tolerance, reliability, and configuration management. Generate detailed electrical schematics
• Develop electro-mechanical harness designs and drawings in 3D NX CAD, articulating design intent to harness manufacturing and integration teams
• Contribute to overall physical layout design to improve size, weight, power, and ease of assembly
• Work collaboratively across mechanical, electrical, RF, EMI and other disciplines to identify requirements and close trades
• Perform analysis and physical testing of harnessing for thermal, loads, and vibration to ensure full lifecycle qualification
• Own product delivery timelines from conception through launch. Work with harness production, integration, and supply chain teams to ensure designs are manufacturable, compliant, and installable on schedule
• Perform R&D investigations and trade studies to advance wire harness design in reliability, mass, and cost savings
• Demonstrate extreme ownership of product outcomes at every stage of development and production

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical, mechanical, or other engineering discipline
• Experience with electro-mechanical wire harness design or manufacturing (includes internships, student projects, and professional experience)

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with system trades and understanding how requirements tie hardware to larger systems
• 1+ years of hands-on project experience with complex mechanical or electrical systems, preferably as a team lead (including internships)
• Proficiency with CAD software packages, especially Siemens NX
• Experience with electrical and optical harness design, including schematic or wiring diagram definition, 3D design, formboard creation, 3D modeling of complex assemblies, avionics enclosures and secondary structure
• Experience with harness design with complex requirements or environmental considerations in at-rate manufacturing, such as aerospace, automotive, or marine industry
• Experience with connector, wire, cable, fiber, overwrap, and shield component specification and selection
• Demonstrated ability to own hardware or systems within an integrated engineering team outside a classroom setting (FSAE, Engineers without Borders, Student Directed Research, Design-Build-Fly, NASA student launch, personal entrepreneurial ventures, etc.)
• Self-motivated with strong organizational, written, and oral communication skills
• Ongoing drive for continuous improvement in all aspects of work

Additional Requirements

• Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, OR ability and willingness to obtain a Top Secret clearance is desired but not required. An 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
• Ability to work long hours and weekends as necessary to meet mission-critical deadlines
• Ability to travel to SpaceX, vendors, customers, and partner locations as necessary
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State per ITAR requirements

Compensation

• Level 1: $100,000.00 - $117,500.00
• Level 2: $115,000.00 - $140,000.00
• Actual level and base salary determined on case-by-case basis based on job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience
• Those with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program

Benefits

• Long-term incentives in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards
• Potential discretionary bonuses
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan with ability to purchase additional stock at a discount
• Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Short and long-term disability insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• 3 weeks of paid vacation
• 10 or more paid holidays per year
• Paid sick leave
• Various other discounts and perks