Thermal Engineer (Starshield)

SpaceX•Hawthorne, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

SpaceX’s Starshield leverages Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts, with an initial focus on earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. The Thermal Engineer is responsible for the thermal design, testing, and validation of vehicles and hardware. The role makes engineering decisions to improve vehicles and increase overall hardware performance. This onsite position is based in Hawthorne, California; remote work is not considered. Travel of up to 10–25% of the work week may be required, and extended hours and weekends may be necessary to meet mission-critical deadlines. The position is offered at Level 1 or Level 2, with a stated base pay range of $100,000–$130,000 for Level 1 and $115,000–$160,000 for Level 2. Actual level and salary are determined case by case based on job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience. Total rewards may also include company stock or long-term cash awards, discretionary bonuses, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Benefits include medical, vision, and dental coverage; a 401(k) plan; short- and long-term disability insurance; life insurance; paid parental leave; paid vacation and holidays; paid sick leave; and other discounts and perks. Employees with an active clearance receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline.
At least 1 year of experience using scientific programming languages such as MATLAB or Python; internship or project-team experience may supplement industry experience.
Availability to work extended hours and weekends as needed to meet mission-critical deadlines.
Ability to travel; up to 10–25% work-week travel may be required.
Must meet U.S. export-control eligibility requirements or be eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in an engineering discipline.
Experience with Thermal Desktop and ANSYS Workbench.
Experience with 3D and reduced-order thermal modeling.
Ability to identify sizing cases and quickly evaluate the impact of design decisions.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Ability to deliver against an aggressive schedule.
Active Top Secret or Top Secret SCI clearance, or willingness to pursue one.

Responsibilities

Design thermal systems for spacecraft, launch vehicles, and hardware, from high-level analysis through validation using ground tests, flight, and orbital data.
Automate workflows to reduce engineering effort in the design cycle.
Pursue performance and robustness improvements.
Pursue operational simplicity and reduce the burden on other SpaceX groups.
Produce quality documentation to reduce missed details and improve efficiency.
Review peer work.

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 coverage.
Vision coverage.
Dental coverage.
401(k) retirement plan.
Short- and long-term disability insurance.
Life insurance.
Paid parental leave.
Up to 3 weeks of paid vacation accrual.
10 or more paid holidays per year.
Paid sick leave under company policy.
Various discounts and perks.
10% differential for employees with an active clearance once officially briefed into a classified program, up to an additional $20,000 annually.