Operations Engineer (Starlink Aviation)
- US citizenship
- ITAR / US person
How this pay compares
This posting states $100k–$165k a year. Open mission operations engineer jobs in Washington post a median of $132k a year, the middle half $128k–$152k, across 9 jobs that state their pay, so this one is within the middle half of what they post.
Mission and launch operations engineers in Washington: pay by town and employer
About the job
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. ## OPERATIONS ENGINEER (STARLINK AVIATION) At SpaceX we’re leveraging our experience in building rockets and spacecraft to deploy Starlink, the world’s most advanced broadband internet system.
Starlink is the world’s largest satellite constellation and is providing fast, reliable internet to millions of users worldwide. We design, build, test, and operate all parts of the system – thousands of satellites, consumer receivers that allow users to connect within minutes of unboxing, and the software that brings it all together.
We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of Starlink’s potential global impact and are looking for best-in-class engineers to help maximize Starlink’s utility for communities and businesses around the globe. As an Operations Engineer, you will be responsible for the performance and reliability of aviation processes.
Specifically, you will work on field monitoring and investigations, troubleshooting customer support tooling, and the analysis of findings from defective hardware returns.
You will build robust processes to enable efficient hardware troubleshooting and processing, top notch technical issue resolution, and efficient data pipelines for performance and reliability metrics for the aviation fleet. ## RESPONSIBILITIES - Lead technical investigations with tight timelines by diving into isolated or fleet-wide performance or reliability issues which affect our customers and present findings to executives - Build and maintain critical infrastructure, tools, processes, and custom software to objectively assess the performance and reliability of Starlink aviation hardware - Apply data science and statistical inference skills to analyze data and build models that help improve customer experience and drive business growth and operational efficiencies - Develop tooling and operational processes to drive improvements to customer experience, time to resolution of customer issues, and enable efficient hardware processing and troubleshooting - Build and maintain data pipelines, automated metric aggregation, and dashboards to give visibility and alert on performance and reliability metrics - Drive positive business outcomes across disciplines including engineering, production, test, inventory, quality, supply chain, and customer experience ## BASIC QUALIFICATIONS - Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, data analysis, or other STEM discipline - 1+ years of experience with SQL - 1+ years of experience with data analysis in Python/R ## PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE - 1+ years of experience with Bash scripting - Strong coding skills: clean, efficient, and well-documented code with a foundation in software design principles - Familiarity with data science and machine learning fundamentals (regression, classification, clustering, anomaly detection) - Strong analytical skills: statistical analysis, data visualization, and quantitative reasoning - Experience building predictive models and analytics pipelines - Experience with developing and deploying tools used for data analysis - Experience in a technical operational role under the pressure of a live service or production environment - Excellent written and verbal communication skills, ability to make presentations to engineers, team members, internal customers, and management - Proven ability to build efficient analytics pipelines and applications - Experience in electrical, RF, Wi-Fi, and network engineering - Ability to work effectively in a dynamic environment that includes working with changing needs and requirements - Ability to identify customer needs, gather requirements, and execute independently - Ability to take on projects that require initiative and developing new expertise ## ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS - Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed - Must be willing to travel (up to 25%) ## Pay Range Level 1: $100,000.00 - $135,000.00 Level 2: $115,000.00 - $165,000.00 Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.
Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year.
Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law. ## ITAR REQUIREMENTS - To conform to U.S.
Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here .
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 reach out to EEOCompliance@spacex.com .
From SpaceX's job posting, checked 7 Nov 2026. The employer's own page is the final word on requirements and availability.
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About SpaceX
Designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft.
Pay on its listings: 53.2% of its open jobs state an hourly rate
How it pays: Paid as an employee on SpaceX's own payroll (salaried or hourly, as each posting states).
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