Environmental & Thermal Control Engineer (Dragon)

SpaceX•Hawthorne, CA

3d•$100,000 - $160,000

About The Position

The Environmental & Thermal Control Engineer (Dragon) owns propulsion and/or environmental and thermal subsystem components and assemblies throughout manufacturing. The role focuses on delivering hardware to meet Dragon rate and USDV delivery timelines while maintaining safety and part quality. It supports day-to-day assembly production, high-pressure testing, and hardware integration; resolves manufacturing discrepancies in collaboration with design engineering, production, and quality teams; and develops and qualifies processes that move products from design into production. The engineer also identifies and executes equipment, machine, and layout upgrades to support volume production and drives process efficiency and continuous improvement. The position may require extended work hours and weekend work. It requires working directly with hardware on the production floor for extended periods. Compensation is listed at $100,000–$130,000 for Level 1 and $115,000–$160,000 for Level 2; actual level and salary depend on job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience. The total rewards package may include long-term incentives, discretionary bonuses, and the opportunity to purchase stock at a discount, alongside the listed benefits.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline or physics.
At least 1 year of hands-on experience driving the design, building, testing, manufacturing, or development of mechanical components or systems.
Position may require extended work hours and weekend work.
Position requires working directly with hardware on the floor for extended periods.
Applicants must meet the stated U.S. export-regulation eligibility requirements: be a U.S. citizen or national, a U.S. lawful permanent resident, a qualifying refugee or asylee, or be eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, systems, or manufacturing engineering.
Experience with design for manufacturability and assembly.
Experience with welding, machining, and coating processes.
Knowledge of chemistry, engineering, fluid dynamics, and mechanics of materials.
Experience conducting pressure and leak testing using instrumentation such as helium mass spectrometers, flow meters, pressure transducers, and thermocouples.
Experience with capacity modeling, process mapping, and fault analysis.
Experience performing Pareto analysis and root cause and corrective action.
Experience performing PFMEAs.
Familiarity with CAD and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).

Responsibilities

Own piece parts and assembled propulsion and/or environmental and thermal subsystems throughout manufacturing, focusing on delivery timelines, safety, and part quality.
Develop and qualify new processes to take products from design to production.
Resolve manufacturing discrepancies for owned parts and processes in collaboration with design engineering, production, and quality teams.
Support day-to-day production of assemblies, high-pressure testing, and hardware integration.
Identify, plan, and execute capital equipment, machine, and layout upgrades to meet volume production demand.
Find and eliminate process waste, streamline production processes, and enable continuous improvement.

Benefits

Potential long-term incentives in the form of company stock 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.
401(k) retirement plan.
Short- and long-term disability insurance.
Life insurance.
Paid parental leave.
Various other discounts and perks.
Potential accrual of 3 weeks of paid vacation.
10 or more paid holidays per year.
Paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy.