Tooling Engineer, Starship Components (Materials Engineering)

SpaceX•Hawthorne, CA

14h•$100,000 - $160,000

About The Position

SpaceX is developing technologies to enable human life on Mars. The Tooling Engineer will own the manufacturing and development of tooling and equipment for welding Starship components. The role supports advanced welding and joining processes for Starship/Super Heavy flow-control devices and mechanisms, including regulators, butterfly valves, and flap/fin actuators. These components are designed and tested for reliability in extreme environments, compatibility with various fluids, temperatures from 80 to 800K, and pressures beyond 800 bar. The engineer will help develop, build, and certify designs that optimize tooling for welding and inspection processes. The role works daily with design, automation, welding, nondestructive evaluation (NDE), and test engineers to develop equipment and enforce standardized practices and procedures across multiple welded assemblies.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, manufacturing, or another engineering discipline.
At least 1 year of experience in one or more of the following: designing and building mechanical structures, GD&T, fabrication of mechanical assemblies or weldments, or using a CAD software package such as SolidWorks, NX, CATIA, or ProE.
Ability to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
Ability to travel for business needs, up to 25%.
Must meet ITAR eligibility requirements: be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Nice To Haves

Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
CNC and/or robot programming experience for automated welding solutions.
Tooling design experience for welded assemblies to reduce part distortion and improve part consistency.
Self-motivation and keen attention to detail.
Hands-on experience in a high-production manufacturing environment.
Mechanical component and/or tooling design and analysis experience using 3D CAD software.
Experience with design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA).
Experience writing work instructions and procedures for critical components.
Expertise or engineering knowledge in tooling, automation, welding engineering, component design, and/or component manufacturing.
Experience in software development using SQL, Python, or C#.

Responsibilities

Design and manufacture welding fixtures for processes including electron beam welding, laser beam welding, gas tungsten arc welding, and orbital tube welding.
Collaborate with design engineering to ensure tooling works with assemblies without damaging critical features.
Create detailed models and engineering prints in NX.
Perform hand calculations and analysis to size structures and mechanisms.
Create manufacturing plans for work performed by internal welding and toolmaking teams.
Scope equipment procurement for welding processes.
Create and evaluate asset maintenance schedules.
Support machine activation with the welding engineering team and perform development testing.

Benefits

Potential eligibility for 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.
Various other discounts and perks.
May accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation.
Eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year.
Paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy.