Senior Aviation Development Engineer, Networking

SpaceX

Confirmed live today High trust

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Work type: On-site
Location: Bastrop, TXWoodinville, Washington
Posted: 56 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live today
Nearby: 99+ roles within 25 mi

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About SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft with the mission of enabling humans to become a multi-planetary species. It operates the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, as well as the Starlink satellite internet constellation.

SpaceX currently has 851 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $130,000–$165,000 across 590 roles with salary data.

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TL;DR · Senior Aviation Development Engineer, Networking

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JOB TITLE: Sr. Aviation Development Engineer, Networking (Starlink) The Sr. Aviation Development Engineer, Networking (Starlink) joins the team responsible for transforming the airline passenger experience by integrating Starlink technology into aircraft. This role involves driving requirements for next-generation passenger cabin environments, designing hardware-in-the-loop lab representations, and translating flight data into scalable architecture decisions. Key responsibilities include owning cabin connectivity architecture, specifying Wi-Fi 6/6E and Wi-Fi 7 requirements, and configuring routers and access points. The position requires expertise in IP networking protocols like IPv4/IPv6, TCP/UDP/QUIC, and DHCP, alongside security standards such as WPA3-Enterprise and Passpoint. The engineer must manage technical engagements with airline partners and airframe manufacturers to ensure regulatory compliance and seamless multi-gigabit connectivity, solving complex problems related to frequency reuse, client density, and RF coexistence in high-density cabin environments.

Skills

Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi 7 IPv4 IPv6 TCP UDP QUIC QoS VLAN RADIUS AAA WPA2 WPA3-Enterprise Passpoint 802.1X DHCP DNS NAT Hardware-in-the-Loop RF Packet Capture MLO OFDMA MU-MIMO IEEE 802.11 EAP-TTLS EAP-TLS EAP-AKA Microsoft Word

What you'll do

Own the cabin connectivity architecture for assigned airline programs, including access-point placement, band planning, and frequency reuse.
Specify and drive requirements for next-generation passenger-cabin Wi-Fi standards and multi-AP coordination.
Design, stand up, and operate hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) lab environments to prove architecture before fleet rollout.
Configure and validate cabin routers and access points for SSID, VLAN, QoS, and authentication protocols.
Define and verify passenger authentication, hotspot security, and network isolation for crew and operations.
Design end-to-end IP networking and protocols, including routing, DHCP, DNS, and NAT for satellite backhaul.
Translate lab and flight measurements into technical requirements, test plans, and design changes for partners.
Coordinate with regulatory bodies and manufacturers to ensure compliance for licenses and type approvals.

What we're looking for

Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline.
5+ years of experience in an engineering function or a technical program/product management role focused on bringing products to market.
U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Experience in software architecture and protocols, electrical interfaces, wireless data communications, mechanical structures, or thermal analysis (preferred).
Experience in Wi-Fi systems design, including IEEE 802.11 PHY/MAC, Wi-Fi 6/6E/7 trades, and RF link budgets (preferred).
Hands-on experience with IP networking, router/AP configuration, and hotspot security protocols like WPA3-Enterprise and Passpoint (preferred).
Experience designing, building, or operating hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) or RF/system integration labs (preferred).
Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary to support critical milestones.

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