Avionics Test Engineer (Starfall)
Company websitespacex.com (SpaceX, opens in new tab)
Base salary $105K to $150K
Employer-published annual base salary, USD. Advertised base range in Hawthorne, CA
You apply on the employer's own site. Six Figure Work does not handle applications.
- LocationHawthorne, CA
- WorkplaceWorkplace not stated
- Status at last checkSource accepting applications when checked
- Last checked (11 min ago) · observed since
About this 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.
AVIONICS TEST ENGINEER (STARFALL)
Want to design test systems at a speed never before seen in the industry? At SpaceX, we are designing systems to test avionics in a matter of weeks, not months or years! The Avionics Test group is the last line of defense testing and screening out all electronic hardware on our rockets and spacecraft. Hardware tested by the team includes but is not limited to: flight computers, power conversion units, analog and digital circuit boards, FPGAs, and communication system units. The team is critical in SpaceX's fundamental goal: allowing humanity to explore the stars. It is a huge undertaking and with it comes extreme responsibility to ensure the safety of the crew and payload.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Develop test solutions for in-house developed avionics hardware products that will fly to space
- Write automation software in Python to interact with units under test, test equipment, instrumentation, and production documentation systems
- Work closely with and consistently provide feedback to responsible design engineers, manufacturing engineers, and test lab teams to drive design or infrastructure improvements to increase product reliability and yield
- Root-cause test failures to ensure issues are understood and develop and implement mitigations as part of a process of continuous improvement
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science or physics
- 1+ years of experience with hardware development or electronics test engineering via professional experience, internships, research and/or outside the classroom projects
- 1+ years of python programming experience
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Experience with test equipment and measurement techniques to verify and validate product requirements
- Understanding of electrical schematics and electronics manufacturing to analyze and improve test coverage
- Understanding of metrology, sources of measurement error, and uncertainty analysis
- Experience developing object oriented software
- Experience analyzing circuits and developing functional test plans
- Understanding and experience in environmental testing such as vibration, shock, thermal, burn-in, and TVAC
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
Pay range:
Level I: $105,000.00 - $122,500.00/per year
Level II: $120,000.00 - $150,000.00/per year
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 [email protected].
Source: SpaceX on Greenhouse · View original posting (opens in new tab)
Pay in context
This role's base floor ($105,000) is above 7% of the 2,034 Engineering (non-software) roles in California listed on this site; 34 others list the same floor. Their median floor is $146,200; the middle half runs from $124,000 to $173,000.
Only jobs on this site count, and each one publishes a base salary of $100,000 or more, so this compares six-figure jobs with each other, not with the whole market. Computed Nov 6, 2026.
This listingAvionics Test Engineer (Starfall)$105K to $150K
Supervisor, Security$105K to $150K
Electrical Test and Reliability Engineer, Satellites (Starlink)$105K to $175K
Ground Systems Engineer, Asset Engineering$105K to $170K
Battery Engineer (Falcon & Dragon)$105K to $170K
Electromagnetic Effects Engineer (Starlink Aviation)$105K to $175K
Test Engineer (Avionics Test Lab)$105K to $170K
Chart as a table
| Role | Published base |
|---|---|
| Avionics Test Engineer (Starfall) (this listing) | $105K - $150K |
| Supervisor, Security | $105K - $150K |
| Electrical Test and Reliability Engineer, Satellites (Starlink) | $105K - $175K |
| Ground Systems Engineer, Asset Engineering | $105K - $170K |
| Battery Engineer (Falcon & Dragon) | $105K - $170K |
| Electromagnetic Effects Engineer (Starlink Aviation) | $105K - $175K |
| Test Engineer (Avionics Test Lab) | $105K - $170K |
Observed changes
- First observed on the employer's board
- Began meeting the published-salary criteria
- Observed since
- Employer-stated posting date
- 2026-07-22
Where this pay comes from
Location as the employer wrote it: Hawthorne, CA (Levels 1-2 combined)
Level I: $105,000.00 - $122,500.00/per year Level II: $120,000.00 - $150,000.00/per year
- Method
- Employer text, read with fixed rules and re-verified
- Checked
- Rule set
- us-base-v2
The pay passage appears in the employer's own job text. Fixed, deterministic rules located it, and the passage below was checked against the stored copy of the posting.
What we verified
- The pay figures come from the employer's own listing, quoted exactly above.
- The pay is an annual base salary in US dollars with a minimum of at least $100,000.
- The role was publicly listed on the employer's job board when last checked.
We do not verify what the employer will actually offer, whether the employer is still recruiting for the role, or anything beyond what the employer published. Full methodology.
