Data Infrastructure Operations Manager (Starlink)

DATA INFRASTRUCTURE OPERATIONS MANAGER (STARLINK)

The Infrastructure Operations team is responsible for the end-to-end management of suppliers, costs, and delivery of high-quality human-generated data, including annotations, evaluations, and specialized research datasets that power the training, validation, and continuous improvement of our AI models. We're seeking talented, high-ownership individuals to grow and expand our global supplier network while ensuring the consistent, high-quality delivery of critical datasets. Individuals in this role are creative, fast problem-solvers who seek on challenges outside their comfort zone and can iterate and adapt at the rapid pace of the AI industry. As a Data Infrastructure Operations Manager I/II, you will own end-to-end strategy, sourcing, and delivery for a major data taxonomy category (e.g., agentic tool use, coding, etc.) to drive high-signal datasets that improve model performance. You will be responsible for driving to acquisition and delivery targets for this category.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Negotiate creative, flexible, and commercially effective deals with key suppliers and partners.
• Align sourcing strategy with engineering, quality, and performance requirements across priority areas.
• Track deal status, approvals, and execution risks while driving suppliers toward timely and reliable delivery.
• Continuously improve, standardize, and scale sourcing processes, workflows, tools, and planning systems.
• Build a strong pipeline of exclusive and proprietary enterprise datasets.
• Provide valuable inputs on upcoming orders based on supplier capacity, quality, and pricing.
• Maintain rigorous spend discipline, committing budget only to datasets that meaningfully improve model performance.
• Set target pricing, analyze supplier spend and trends, and develop metrics for quality, delivery, and performance.
• Manage clear, proactive communication with both internal stakeholders and external partners.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• 5+ years of experience and a bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience working in one or more of the following fields:
  • Hardware or product management
  • Engineering
  • Procurement
  • Supply chain management
  • Strategy and operations
  • Technology

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Self-starting, able to identify areas for improvement with minimal direction
• Experience in managing technical or construction projects from beginning to end
• Ability to tackle complex and ambiguous problems
• Excellent project management, communication, and organizational skills
• Experience or interest in data analysis, data visualization, and/or financial analysis
• Demonstrates commitment to SpaceX’s goals of reusability, renewability, and sustainability

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be willing to work long hours and occasional weekends when necessary to support launch and critical project timelines

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:             

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, 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 in Washington State accrue paid sick time in compliance with state and federal law. Company shuttles are offered to employees for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the SpaceX Redmond office Monday to Friday.