Position Details:
Location: Los Angeles (Hawthorne), CA
Employment Type: Full-time
Department: Starlight Solar
Travel: Frequent
The Mission
Starpath develops and manufactures the technologies that will enable humans to live on the Moon and Mars. Today, we are building robotic systems that locally produce the essential commodities a lunar civilization will require at extreme scale: water, power, and oxygen. Our ultimate goal is to build and operate a self-sustaining city on Mars.
Manufacturing Engineer - Space Solar
The Starlight team is focused on dramatically improving space solar power to support Starpath's core mission and the greater space economy. Starlight manufactures the lowest cost and highest performance space solar ever, which will power the majority of new satellites built on Earth and all of Starpath's equipment on the Moon and Mars.
As a Manufacturing Engineer on the Starlight team, you will develop and own the processes, tooling, and inspection techniques that enable us to manufacture space solar hardware at high rate and with uncompromising quality.
Responsibilities:
Develop and perform acceptance testing of manufacturing processes, techniques, and tools to enable efficient and high-rate manufacturing
Design and implement precision tooling to eliminate assembly error, improve quality, and minimize cycle time
Automate novel processes to ensure repeatability on high-rate manufacturing lines
Work closely with design engineering teams to influence solar panel architecture with design for manufacturing (DFM) improvements
Stand up in-process inspection methods, including automated approaches, to catch issues at the source and improve first-pass yield
Lead the handoff of hardware from development into production, ensuring processes are documented, stable, and ready to scale
Push back on unnecessary complexity — simplify specs, streamline workflows, and cut overhead wherever it doesn't add value
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor's or advanced degree in aerospace, manufacturing, materials, mechanical engineering, or a related engineering discipline
1+ years of manufacturing and process design experience (internship and academic experience applicable)
Preferred Qualifications:
Master's degree in an engineering discipline
Hands-on experience with mixed value stream or high-rate manufacturing lines, focusing on maximizing yield and increasing rate
Proficiency in mechanical assembly methods, testing, failure mode effects analysis, and troubleshooting
Prior experience developing, maintaining, and improving weld processes and weld inspection techniques, including automation
Experience using SQL or other data management tools to inform priorities and measure performance
Exposure to aerospace, space, or other high-reliability hardware environments
EAR Requirements:
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, you 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.
Equal Opportunity:
Starpath is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
Benefits:
At Starpath Robotics, base pay is just one part of your total rewards package. We also offer:
Generous benefits including health, dental, vision, and retirement plans.
Paid time off, holidays, and flexible policies to support balance.
Professional growth opportunities through training and development.
The chance to own high-impact work that directly shapes the future of robotics & space!
A collaborative, mission-driven culture where craftsmanship and innovation are celebrated.