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Supplier Development Engineer, Assembly Processes (Starlink)

SpaceX· Starlink - Supply Chain Engineering
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Bastrop, TXFull-timePosted 5mo ago

About the role

Supplier Development Engineer focused on end-to-end process development, equipment bring-up, and qualification for precision assembly technologies at contract manufacturers to enable high-volume Starlink hardware production, with emphasis on joining, dispensing, and inspection processes.

Responsibilities

  • Own end-to-end process development, equipment bring-up, and qualification for precision assembly technologies at contract manufacturers, spanning strategic supplier selection, new product introduction (NPI), and high-volume production
  • Engage early with suppliers on equipment selection, tooling design, and process engineering to properly set up high-volume manufacturing programs by ensuring material and process corners are fully characterized and completed
  • Lead development of ultrasonic welding processes, including amplitude, force, energy, weld time, and trigger optimization, as well as horn design, joint geometry, and weld strength validation for both metal and thermoplastic components
  • Develop hot plate welding and vibration welding processes for plastic housings and enclosures, focusing on temperature uniformity, platen design, melt displacement control, weld pressure profiles, and long-term joint durability
  • Optimize heat staking and hot riveting processes for plastic boss forming, including temperature control, pressure profiling, staking tool design, and dimensional stability validation
  • Develop and qualify precision dispense processes for thermal interface materials (TIM), adhesives, and sealants, including rheological characterization, volumetric vs. time-pressure dispensing, needle selection, vision-guided positioning, and repeatable bead or dot formation
  • Establish and optimize automated optical inspection (AOI) systems, including multi-angle lighting techniques, high-resolution imaging, algorithm development, false call reduction, and integration with deep learning-based defect detection
  • Design and execute comprehensive design of experiments (DOE) and corner case studies (material and process windows) to define robust parameter ranges and ensure process capability across environmental and material variations
  • Lead line qualification activities at contract manufacturers, including IQ, OQ, PQ, GR&R, and PPAP
  • Develop detailed process control plans, FMEA, SPC limits, and reaction plans to sustain high process capability in mass production
  • Perform reactive quality engineering support, including rapid containment, 8D and 5-Why root cause analyses, and corrective actions for quality escapes, field returns, and production issues
  • Own on-time delivery of process qualification and production ramp activities while monitoring field performance and feeding lessons learned back to design and process engineering teams for iterative improvement

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, materials science, or other engineering discipline
  • 1+ years of experience in precision joining, dispensing, and automated inspection process development for consumer electronics or complex hardware

Skills

Required:Ultrasonic weldingHot plate weldingPrecision dispensing (TIM, adhesives, sealants)Automated Optical Inspection (AOI)DOE / SPC / MSA / Cp/CpkFMEA / SPC / CPAP8D / 5-Why root cause analysisTechnical communication
Nice to have:Vibration weldingPPAP/IQ/OQ/PQ

Benefits

  • Not specified in description
Last updated Jul 8, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

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