About the position
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. Starshield leverages SpaceX’s Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts. While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use, with an initial focus on earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. Join the Starshield production team as a Development Test Engineer developing SpaceX's newest products. This role strives to reduce hardware development time and increase reliability by testing Starshield's upcoming products, ground systems, spacecraft, and subassemblies. Our Test Engineers design, fabricate, and implement test equipment as well as conduct development tests for the new structures, components, and mechanisms.
Responsibilities
- Create test stand and equipment concepts, fabrication drawings, wiring schematics, and instrumentation lists
- Design and analyze structures, fluid systems, and mechanisms
- Coordinate with design engineering to determine what equipment to procure and maintain in the test lab
- Help train technicians and other engineers on test concepts and equipment use
- Supervise the integration of test stands including fabrication, mechanical assembly and data/control systems
- Operate test stands with great attention to detail
- Collaborate with dynamics and thermal engineers to ensure test equipment meets vehicle and environmental requirements.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering
- 1+ years of experience in one or a combination of the following: involvement with an extracurricular project team designing and building mechanical structures, academic research on mechanical structures, professional experience designing and analyzing mechanical structures
Nice-to-haves
- Master's degree in mechanical engineering or other engineering discipline
- Understanding and proper application of GD&T
- Experience with NX
- Experience performing finite element analysis (FEA)
- Experience with large steel and/or aluminum weldment design and analysis
- Experience with high pressure (up to 30,000 psi) fluid system design and analysis
- Hands-on design and fabrication experience
- Basic programming skills (Python, JavaScript, and HTML/CSS preferred)
- Data acquisition and controls experience
- Demonstrated ability to drive projects to completion
- Experience using or setting up vibration test equipment
- Experience using temperature and vacuum test systems
Benefits
- Pay range: Development Test Engineer/Level I: $95,000.00 - $115,000.00/per year
- Pay range: Development Test Engineer/Level II: $110,000.00 - $130,000.00/per year
- Long-term incentives in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards
- Potential discretionary bonuses
- Ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage
- Access to a 401(k) retirement plan
- Short and long-term disability insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid parental leave
- Various other discounts and perks
- 3 weeks of paid vacation
- 10 or more paid holidays per year
- 5 days of sick leave per year
