5-10
Operations Engineering Manager (Production)
12/11/2025
The Operations Engineering Manager will optimize operations and lead a team of engineers and analysts to address operational challenges. They will also manage resources and align priorities to meet production targets.
Salary
150000 - 190000 USD
Working Hours
40 hours/week
Company Size
1,001-5,000 employees
Language
English
Visa Sponsorship
No
About The Company
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space transportation, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary.
SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones. It is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in December 2010. The company made history again in May 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, exchanged cargo payloads, and returned safely to Earth — a technically challenging feat previously accomplished only by governments. Since then Dragon has delivered cargo to and from the space station multiple times, providing regular cargo resupply missions for NASA.
For more information, visit www.spacex.com.
About the Role
<div class="content-intro"><p>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.</p></div><p> <strong>OPERATIONS ENGINEERING MANAGER (PRODUCTION)</strong></p>
<p>This leader will be responsible for optimizing operations, conducting strategic planning, aligning resources to priorities, and assessing production progress toward targets for Hawthorne manufacturing. They will lead a team of highly skilled engineers and data analysts who proactively identify and address operational challenges, implement industrial engineering practices, derive actionable information from data, and synchronize work priorities across SpaceX production and launch operations. Scope includes managing internal department priorities and resources and synchronizing efforts with testing, supply chain, and other SpaceX elements to ensure program output matches launch manifest and needs of the company.</p>
<p><strong>RESPONSIBILITIES: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Manage a team of operations engineers, industrial engineers, and data analysts to focus them on the company’s most critical problems. Manage their development and career progression to become SpaceX people-leaders.</li>
<li>Align people, processes, products, parts, and physical plants to meet ambitious safety, quality, output, and efficiency targets. </li>
<li>Conduct operations engineering at a strategic level by optimizing resources, schedules, and risk under uncertainty across SpaceX production and launch.</li>
<li>Analyze complex problems involving multiple stakeholders, driving toward optimal solutions in an uncertain and ambiguous future landscape. </li>
<li>Manage the development of advanced tools to analyze delivery, capacity, costs vs benefits, supply chain, and operations to guide executive decisions in anticipation of change.</li>
<li>Leverage operational data to identify trends, propose leading indicators, and provide predictive information to steer executive decisions.</li>
<li>Lead inter-disciplinary and cross-functional teams to develop and manage production strategy, mitigate future risks, and seize emerging opportunities.</li>
<li>Identify operational challenges within the organization, lead problem formulation, determine root cause, and implement creative and effective solutions.</li>
<li>Develop key performance measures, and identify decision points and actions to optimize production to meet demand, ensuring measured parameters correlate with overall company objectives.</li>
<li>Collaborate with cross-departmental partners in supply chain, engineering, operations, and finance groups to synchronize efforts.</li>
<li>Capture best practices of production systems and manage organizational knowledge and lessons-learned.</li>
<li>Manage production workforce development efforts to ensure technicians and engineers are trained, qualified, and incentivized to perform their assigned roles. </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline.</li>
<li>4+ years of experience in one or more of the following: </li>
<ul>
<li>Engineering </li>
<li>Production operations </li>
<li>Supply chain management </li>
<li>Military operations </li>
</ul>
<li>1+ years of experience in a leadership role with direct reports.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Experience or education in management science and engineering, operations engineering, operations research, or industrial engineering.</li>
<li>Experience with data-based decision making, modeling of complex systems, and framing executive decisions supported by engineering analysis.</li>
<li>Ability to work in fast-paced, high stress environments.</li>
<li>Excellent written and executive communication skills.</li>
<li>Proficiency with statistics, data analysis, cost/benefit analysis, and visualization.</li>
<li>Experience with data visualization tools, discrete event modeling tools, data queries and analysis.</li>
<li>Experience leading in a developmental manufacturing environment, in aerospace production, or in a dynamic multi-dimensional industry.</li>
<li>Ability to work autonomously, prioritize work, and make resource allocation recommendations that involve risk and uncertainty.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Must be able to work extended hours and/or weekends as needed, including occasional short-notice domestic travel.</li>
<li>Ability to pass Air Force background checks for Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:</strong></p>
<p>Pay range: </p>
<p>Operations Engineering/Manager: $150,000.00 - $190,000.00/per year </p>
<p>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.<br> <br>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, stock options, 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.</p><div class="content-conclusion"><p><strong>ITAR REQUIREMENTS:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>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 <a href="https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/?id=ddtc_kb_article_page&sys_id=24d528fddbfc930044f9ff621f961987">here</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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 <a href="mailto:EEOCompliance@spacex.com">EEOCompliance@spacex.com</a><em>. </em></p></div>
Key Skills
Operations EngineeringIndustrial EngineeringData AnalysisProduction OperationsSupply Chain ManagementLeadershipProblem SolvingStrategic PlanningRisk ManagementCollaborationPerformance MeasurementTool DevelopmentCommunicationStatistical AnalysisData VisualizationManufacturing
Categories
EngineeringManagement & LeadershipManufacturingData & AnalyticsLogistics
Benefits
Comprehensive Medical CoverageVision CoverageDental Coverage401(k) Retirement PlanShort and Long-Term Disability InsuranceLife InsurancePaid Parental LeavePaid VacationPaid HolidaysPaid Sick LeaveStock OptionsEmployee Stock Purchase Plan
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