Materials Engineer, Polymers (Dragon)

SpaceX • Hawthorne, CA

1d • $100,000 - $160,000 • Onsite

About The Position

As an engineer within the Materials Engineering department, you will use your knowledge, experience, and creativity to solve difficult material and process challenges to enable highly reliable, low-cost, and continuous access to space, and to ensure safe spaceflight of crew and critical cargo.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering, polymer science, chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, or a STEM field
• 1+ years of hands-on experience in materials characterization, manufacturing, and/or materials development (internship or project experience accepted)

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree or PhD in materials science and engineering, polymer science, chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, or a STEM field
• Hands-on experience developing, processing, testing, and qualifying aerospace polymeric and elastomeric materials, including silicones, structural adhesives, sealants, plastics, textiles, composites, and thermal protection materials
• Experience in polymer characterization methods and laboratory techniques, including SEM-EDS, FTIR, DSC, TGA, LFA, DMA, TMA, rheometry, optical microscopy, and mechanical property testing
• Experience in failure analysis, with broad knowledge of degradation mechanisms and failure modes of polymeric materials
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated attention to detail and a record of producing accurate technical deliverables
• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, with a strong desire to both learn from and mentor others
• Experience preparing clear technical deliverables for engineering teams and external customers
• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously in a fast-paced, demanding work environment
• Ability to create creative and scrappy solutions to evaluate material problems

Responsibilities

• Own multi-flight qualification and certification of polymeric and elastomeric materials used on Dragon. These materials include structural and non-structural plastics and adhesives, coatings, elastomeric seals, thermal protection systems (TPS), textiles, and composites.
• Provide guidance to engineering and production teams on materials selection, testing and analysis of non-metallic materials
• Lead root cause investigations and failure analysis as a subject matter expert in nonmetallic materials
• Develop innovative material solutions that increase performance life, improve reliability, and reduce refurbishment processing
• Guide design changes through ownership of material specifications, requirements, property allowable generation, drawing reviews, and manufacturability assessments
• Own external customer communication and deliverables regarding certification and launch readiness, alongside coordinating technical discussions with multidisciplinary teams
• Interface with suppliers on technical issues, including material non-conformances and root cause investigations

Benefits

• long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards
• potential discretionary bonuses
• 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
• 3 weeks of paid vacation
• 10 or more paid holidays per year
• paid sick leave

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time