About this role
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.
ELECTRONICS TEST TECHNICIAN (ELECTROMAGNETIC EFFECTS)
As a member of our fast-paced Electromagnetic Effects team, you will be responsible for ensuring avionics hardware performance through some of the harshest and varied electromagnetic environments imaginable. In order to ensure maximum reliability in a electromagnetic environments, the Electromagnetic Effects team performs exhaustive analysis, design, and test at the component, board, unit and subsystem levels with extensive opportunity to interact with a vast array of rocket and spacecraft hardware and electronics. As one of the few teams required to interface with the design, manufacturing, integration, and mission operations teams we play a critical role in the development of our systems as we advance our efforts towards broadband satellite internet and safe, reliable, inexpensive, and innovative access to space with the fundamental goal of expanding human space exploration capabilities. In this role, you will build and run the lab's test setups, including high-voltage and vacuum arc tests, automated test racks, and the fixtures and harnesses that connect them to hardware under test.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Support engineers with standardized testing, root cause analysis and R&D projects
• Set up, run, and tear down high-voltage arc tests, including tests in vacuum chambers
• Operate, maintain, and troubleshoot high-voltage power supplies and vacuum systems (pumps, gauges, feedthroughs, leak checks)
• Build, wire, and integrate test racks from layout drawings and wiring diagrams, including rack-mount instruments, power distribution, patch panels, interlocks, and cable management, using grounding and bonding practices that keep measurement noise low
• Check out racks before releasing them to test: continuity, isolation, ground bond, power-on, and instrument communication
• Run automated test sequences, monitor results, and determine whether a failure comes from the unit under test, the fixture, or the script
• Record test data in a consistent format with serial numbers, configuration, and timestamps, and produce quick plots and summaries for engineers
• Read, interpret, and work from free-form drawings as well as from controlled documentation and processes
• Troubleshoot electronics hardware using equipment such as oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, spectrum analyzers, power supplies, and soldering equipment to determine root cause of failures
• Troubleshoot complex problems independently with minimal direction
• Design and fabricate electro-mechanical assemblies, harnesses and test fixtures from conceptual drawings
• Maintain lab cleanliness, organization, equipm