Sr. Supply Chain Reliability Engineer, Avionics at SpaceX
Hawthorne, CA, United States
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.
SR. SUPPLY CHAIN RELIABILITY ENGINEER, AVIONICS
The supply chain team is responsible for the sourcing, planning, procurement, warehousing, and transportation of all raw materials and components needed to build our revolutionary spacecraft and launch vehicles. Our mission is to get the right part in the right place at the right time, every time.
The supply chain reliability engineering team is chartered with global quality surveillance of the supply base, reducing supply chain risk through external evaluations and internal risk reviews, leading failure investigations and proactively driving source qualification activities.
As an Avionics supply chain reliability engineer, you manage and lead cross functional risk activities to meet technical, production, and regulatory requirements at the point of qualification and throughout the supplier's lifecycle. You would be responsible for monitoring for known and unknown supplier flight risk and driving failure investigations to resolve issues immediately and effectively. As supplier surveillance activities deal with suppliers that support all areas of SpaceX, you would build an extensive network within materials and processing, build reliability, production, supply chain management, and a deep understanding of SpaceX systems and processes. This experience would enable you to become a critical voice in the development of group and company strategy.
To be successful, you will need:
A deep technical and practical knowledge of manufacturing processes and standards
The capability to manage projects and drive accountability within cross functional teams, succinctly communicate status and needed action, often urgently, to all levels of the organization
A willingness to roll up your sleeves and step into chaotic situations, using technical knowledge and quality background to understand the current state and most optimal path forward
The ability to analyze for and identify suboptimal supplier and internal system process gaps and drive improvement through data driven decisions
The ability to conduct formal and informal supplier evaluations, corrective actions, and process reviews
Ability to engage counterparts across the organization and develop/build trust in order to effectively execute large scale initiatives
An ability to acquire new technical knowledge, particularly around how purchased components and assemblies integrate into the rocket and spacecraft
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Work with engineering, production, experts from other teams and departments to drive changes that make the system more reliable, more manufacturable, and more efficient. Challenge assumptions and build strong professional relationships
Investigate failures in production, test and flight, identifying and mitigating the immediate and underlying root causes in order to quantify/reduce risk and improve reliability of designs and processes
Manage containments and potential improvements in order to improve efficiency of screening, quarantine and closures
Identify opportunities for risk reduction and removal of complexity in designs and processes to improve manufacturability, collaborating with integrated product teams to drive improvements and address high-impact and repeating non-conformances
Improve upon existing quality management systems to support current launch manifest
Monitor and assess supplier capabilities for unknown flight risk and work to resolve issues. Assess changes in supplier processes and asses for cross-functional impacts. Run risk review activities, including performing and organizing data reviews and executing mitigation plans
Review acceptance and qualification of new capabilities at suppliers. Ensure reliability and maintainability of modified capabilities through a risk-based re-qualification program
Maintain holistic supply chain capabilities knowledge and work with cross-functional teams to drive improved verification and changes for improved reliability
Partner with design, test, and manufacturing through product development and production to ensure the reliability of Avionics parts (i.e. controllers, RIOs, sensors, RF, power systems, solar arrays, wire harnessing, etc.)
Responsible for tracking yield, test/inspection escapes, and ensuring past failures and lessons learned are incorporated into NPI
Utilize schematics, test equipment, inspection processes, etc. to perform structured electrical root cause analysis of failures identified during the development and production processes to inform design/manufacturing changes
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor's degree in an engineering field
5+ years of experience in an electronic manufacturing environment
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
Bachelor's and/or Master's in Electrical Engineering
Knowledge and mastery of principles of chemistry, engineering, fluid dynamics and mechanics of materials
Ability to quickly grasp knowledge of a diverse range of supplier capabilities
Practical experience in requirement and specification development
Capable of seeking and solving complex problem and organizing it in a manner that helps decision-making
Demonstrated experience in leading or working on a multi-disciplinary engineering problem
Experience supporting production and test of complex electromechanical assemblies
Knowledge of quality tools such as Lean principles, Six Sigma, root cause analysis and corrective action, advanced product quality planning (APQP), metrology, process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA), control plans, and various problem-solving approaches
Experience with high volume manufacturing
Knowledge of supplier quality processes (production part approval process, advanced product quality planning, first article inspection reports, etc.)
Experience with quality systems (ISO 9000/TS/AS9100/NADCAP)
Disciplined approach to problem solving - 8D
Strong written and verbal communication skills, ability to make presentations to suppliers, team members and management
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
Must be able to work long hours and some nights and/or weekends when needed
Must be able to travel - up to 25-50% work week travel may be required, including international travel
Valid driver's license
ITAR REQUIREMENTS:
SpaceX 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.
Applicants 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 notify the Human Resources Department at (310) 363-6000.
