Supplier Development Engineer, Harnessing

About the role

Join the Starlink program to manage the supply chain for copper and fiber cable harnessing. This role focuses on ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality components from external partners, supporting the rapid development and scaling of Starlink technology. You will apply your manufacturing and quality expertise to enable supplier success.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Maintain a continuous supply of copper and fiber cable harnessing for Starlink.
• Collaborate with internal teams including design, R&D, commercial supply chain, hardware reliability, and production to manage suppliers and deliver products.
• Assist the procurement team in selecting suppliers by evaluating their manufacturing processes and quality systems.
• Identify, audit, and integrate new suppliers into the supply chain.
• Define and implement technical and quality requirements for suppliers to meet hardware manufacturing needs.
• Oversee the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) with selected suppliers to support high-volume production.
• Verify that supplier qualification and reliability activities align with program standards.
• Develop and approve process controls for critical product characteristics.
• Suggest technical improvements to products to minimize risks and defects.
• Analyze supplier quality and delivery data to identify trends and systemic issues, then create improvement plans.
• Provide feedback to suppliers on manufacturing methods to reduce costs, shorten cycle times, and increase yields.
• Serve as a point of contact between purchasing, engineering, manufacturing, and suppliers to resolve quality issues and offer technical support.
• Lead supplier root cause failure analysis and corrective actions for quality problems.
• Manage projects and deliver reports to internal teams, management, and suppliers.
• Be the internal expert for supplier statistical process control (SPC), yield improvements, new tool/process qualifications, and performance metrics.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering field.
• Experience with copper or fiber harnessing or cable manufacturing (includes academic projects, clubs, or internships).
• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends when necessary for deadlines.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally, up to 25-60%.
• Possess a valid driver's license.
• Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations due to ITAR regulations.

Nice to have

• Advanced degree in engineering, business, or supply chain.
• Familiarity with supplier quality processes such as PPAP, APQP, FAIR, RCCA failure analysis, and lean methodologies.
• Knowledge of quality systems like ISO 9000/TS/AS9100/NADCAP.
• Understanding of statistical techniques including SPC, design of experiments, and Six Sigma.
• Experience with structured problem-solving methods like 8D.
• Demonstrated ability to share information and influence others across different organizational levels.
• Capability to work in a fast-paced, cross-functional setting with minimal supervision.
• Quick and efficient learning of new skills on the job.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to prioritize tasks and projects.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presentation abilities.

Skills & tools

• Copper harnessing
• Fiber harnessing
• Cable manufacturing
• PPAP
• APQP
• FAIR
• RCCA failure analysis
• Lean methods
• ISO 9000/TS/AS9100/NADCAP
• SPC
• Design of experiments
• Six Sigma
• 8D

Practical notes

Compensation includes base salary, potential long-term incentives (stock, stock options, cash awards), discretionary bonuses, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Benefits include comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, a 401(k) retirement plan, disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various discounts. Employees accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and receive 10+ paid holidays annually. Washington State employees accrue paid sick time. Company shuttles are available for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the Redmond office Monday to Friday.

About the company

Based in Starbase, Texas, a company pursues work in spaceflight, telecom, and artificial intelligence. A unit handles rocket launches, leading yearly orbital counts beyond other national and commercial teams. Another unit runs Starlink, a satellite communications firm. A third area, through SpaceXAI, advances Grok and AI integration with X, while managing data center operations. Roles often cross these paths. Candidates with engineering, software, or operations backgrounds may find chances to join projects that span launch, connectivity, and machine learning efforts in this Texas-based enterprise.