Sr. Welding Engineer

SpaceX • Hawthorne, CA

1d • $135,000 - $190,000 • Onsite

About The Position

SpaceX is seeking a Senior Welding Engineer to support the manufacturing and development of their launch vehicles (Falcon 9 and Starship) and spacecraft (Dragon and Starlink satellites). This role involves developing, qualifying, and optimizing various welding processes, including electron beam, laser beam, gas tungsten arc, orbital tube, resistance, gas metal arc, friction stir, and plasma arc welding. The engineer will collaborate daily with design and manufacturing teams, making critical welding judgments, enforcing standardized practices, and improving welded assemblies. The position is crucial for ensuring the quality and efficiency of welded components in cutting-edge aerospace technology.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline
• 5+ years of experience with hands-on fabrication, manufacturing, or testing experience of welded assemblies

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in welding engineering or related technical program
• Hands on welding experience of stainless steel, nickel-based, titanium, copper, and aluminum alloys
• Experience with brazing, joining, and metallographic interpretation
• Fundamental understanding of welding processes including, but not limited to, electron beam, laser beam, plasma arc, resistance, friction-stir, gas tungsten arc, and gas metal arc
• Robot programming experience for automated welding solutions
• Tooling design experience for welded assemblies to reduce part distortion and improve part consistency
• Understanding of weld strength testing methodologies, standards, and data acquisition systems used to make informed welding decisions (ASTM E8, E399, E740, ISO 15653, AWS D17.X, AWS C7.X, thermos-couples, strain gages, etc.)
• Experience with root cause analysis and corrective actions including, but not limited to, optical and SEM fractography/metallography, hardness, chemical analysis, and mechanical testing
• Self-motivated engineer with keen attention to detail
• Strong ability to multi-task and communicate status and results with broad spectrum of internal and external departments

Responsibilities

• Develop, optimize, and qualify weld processes and parameters for multiple welding processes including but not limited to: electron beam welding, laser beam welding, gas tungsten arc welding, orbital tube welding, resistance welding, gas metal arc welding, friction stir welding, and plasma arc welding
• Support production operations on full scale welded assemblies, providing direction to manufacturing engineers and welders on correct techniques in a fast paced manufacturing environment
• Support design, manufacturing, and materials engineering with root cause analysis
• Work closely with design, tooling, automation, and development engineers to improve welded designs for manufacturing
• Set up welding qualification test campaigns and interpret mechanical testing and NDE results
• Work closely with NDE personnel to interpret weld quality on development and flight hardware in addition to developing and implementing innovative state-of-the-art NDE techniques
• Develop and implement improved process control where possible using test and NDE results as feedback loop
• Set up automated welding solutions in an effort to drive process consistency
• Scope out new welding technologies that may be employed to improve rate/quality/efficiency
• Support on-site manufacturing and development of Starlink, F9, Dragon, Starship, and related propulsion engines

Benefits

• 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
• Paid sick leave
• Long-term incentives in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards
• Potential discretionary bonuses
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior