Starlink Development Lead (Starlink)

STARLINK DEVELOPMENT LEAD (STARLINK)

SpaceX is developing a low-latency, broadband internet system to meet the needs of consumers across the globe. Enabled by a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites, Starlink will provide fast, reliable internet to populations with little or no connectivity, including those in rural communities and places where existing services are too expensive or unreliable.

Working directly within the Materials Engineering group, this position is responsible for managing the development, qualification, and delivery of all internal and external plastic injection molding tools from preliminary design review to launch. The ideal candidate will bring a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset to drive seamless coordination and communication between design, engineering, and production teams, to ensure tools are delivered on time and meet the required quality and performance standards.

This role requires a strong focus on program planning, risk management, and the execution of change management processes to address potential challenges early on. The ideal candidate will be responsible for driving continuous improvement, ensuring stakeholder alignment, and managing multiple tooling projects at once. A background in injection molding tool design, risk analysis, and performance tracking in high-volume manufacturing environments is essential, as is the ability to collaborate effectively with both internal teams and external suppliers to ensure the successful deployment of tools. Strong leadership, communication, and project management skills are key to success in this role.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Act as the main liaison between design, internal/external tool makers, and production teams to ensure seamless communication and collaboration and achieve program milestones and deliverables.
• Develop, maintain, and implement comprehensive program tracking plans and strategies to drive successful tool builds and production readiness.
• Plan and prioritize effectively to meet organization goals, ensuring accountability of each team member in the project.
• Manage and drive the entire program timeline, ensuring all internal and external insource tools are delivered on time while meeting quality and performance expectations.
• Lead risk analysis efforts using DFMEA, PFMEA and past program lessons-learned to proactively identify and mitigate risks. Develop and implement contingency plans to address potential roadblocks.
• Own the change ticket process, ensuring proper creation, tracking, and execution of design or process modifications and hand-offs.
• Interface with key stakeholders to ensure alignment on scope, expectations, milestones, and deadlines. Facilitate regular cross-functional team collaboration tag-ups to drive an efficiency in both internal and external tool build processes. Ensure all teams are fully briefed and working toward the common goal of successful tool deployment.
• Establish and track KPIs for internal/external tool build processes. Analyze trends and outliers, proposing corrective actions to improve performance. Conduct post-program evaluations, summarizing effectiveness, punctuality, customer satisfaction, and lessons learned.
• Communicate periodic progress reports to key stakeholders and leadership and proactively escalate risks, providing data-driven recommendations for resolution.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or STEM
• 5+ years of professional experience as a program manager

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• 10+ years of experience in injection mold design and/or injection mold construction
• Project management professional (PMP) certified
• Detailed understanding of plastics molding-related process variables and their impact on throughput, quality, and yield rate
• Strong to expert-level 3D CAD skills, including advanced surfacing and large assemblies
• Siemens NX fluency or must be able to learn and adopt it quickly as it will be the design package used (NX 2306)
• Knowledge and experience in scientific molding/RJG molding
• Strong experience in setting up and performing detailed mold simulations (Autodesk Moldflow)
• Knowledge and experience with liquid silicone rubber molding (LSR)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Willingness to travel to other SpaceX sites and/or vendors for extended periods of time (~ 50% of the time) including international
• Ability to lift up to 40 Ibs unassisted
• Standing and/or walking for long periods of time
• Willingness to work long hours and weekends as necessary to accommodate manufacturing and test campaigns