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Launch Engineer, Fluid Systems (Starship)

SpaceX · Starbase, TX

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Level
Engineer
Team
Manufacturing
Degree
Required
Experience asked
1+ years
Industry
Aerospace & defense
Posted
30+ days ago

The role in 30 seconds

An engineer-level manufacturing role at SpaceX (aerospace & defense) in Starbase, TX. Cradle-to-grave project ownership through hosting design reviews, project decision justification, equipment procurement, and coordination and assistance of the construction of your ideas.

They ask for
1+ years · degree required
Tools it names
Machining, Welding, CATIA / NX

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

How this role compares

Against 115 other live manufacturing postings in Texas.

Base pay
Not listed in this posting

Typical $79k–$132k, from 28 postings that list pay.

Experience asked
Less than usual (1+ vs 5+)

Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.

Skills these teams ask for most

  • Tooling 58%
  • Root cause 54%
  • Lean 40%
  • Automation 39%
  • ✓ New product launch 34%
  • Six Sigma 28%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

It asks for 1+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone on the team first.

At a glance

Lifts up to 25 lbs

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

  1. 1

    Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at SpaceX

    We found 1 person at this company and state: 1 leaders. Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. See them ↓

  2. 2

    Send a short, curious note

    One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.

    Write to Andres → (free)
  3. 3

    Turn a reply into a short call

    Questions worth asking about this team:

    • What does a normal week look like on your team?
    • Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
    • How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
    • How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
  4. 4

    Apply with someone vouching for you

    If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.

  5. 5

    Bring proof to the interview

    One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

This plant: SpaceX in Starbase

22 other open roles at this site · 1 person we found on the manufacturing team.

All 23 roles at SpaceX →
Full description from SpaceXAs posted on their careers site.Show

Responsibilities

  • ◆Analyze, design, and build systems that support critical rocket launches and testing
  • ◆Cradle-to-grave project ownership through hosting design reviews, project decision justification, equipment procurement, and coordination and assistance of the construction of your ideas
  • ◆Design modular hardware capable of being manufactured at volume for future launch sites across the world
  • ◆Apply interdisciplinary engineering skills in fields of system-level process design and initial sizing, detailed pressurized fluid and thermal analysis, structural engineering, materials, and component selection, and cost/schedule optimization
  • ◆Work directly with technicians and support groups to build your designs, and fix real-world problems on the fly
  • ◆Maintain a tight feedback loop with the launch operations team to rapidly alter plans as necessary to meet tight deadlines
  • ◆Activate and troubleshoot equipment to achieve design objectives and iterate system maintenance strategies to reduce future downtimes
  • ◆Independently evaluate complex problems and arrive at solutions to seemingly impractical problems that best support the program
  • ◆Hands-on approach to tackling daily field projects necessary to keep the company launching rockets

Qualifications

  • ✓Bachelor’s degree in physics, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other engineering discipline
  • ✓1+ years of hands-on build or design experience (internship, club, and competition team experience qualifies)

Preferred skills and experience

  • ✓Ability to work independently as well as part of a team, take initiative, and communicate effectively
  • ✓Ability to rapidly change roles/responsibilities while maintaining a high sense of urgency in a high-paced, challenging work environment
  • ✓Willingness to perform other related duties to ensure an efficient and effective work environment
  • ✓Experience with quick thinking and problem-solving in stressful situations
  • ✓Experience solving challenges posed by short deadlines
  • ✓Strong fundamental intuition of fluid and/or structural/mechanical systems
  • ✓Creativity to imagine and design for reliability, efficiency, and maintainability from scratch
  • ✓General hands-on experience with machining, welding, and other fabrication techniques is a plus
  • ✓Experience with instrumentation, testing, data review and analysis, verification against a model
  • ✓3+ years of mechanical, fluids, or thermal design experience in an industrial setting or equivalent
  • ✓Experience with high-pressure and cryogenic fluid systems and components
  • ✓Experience producing drawings for welders and machine shop fabrication
  • ✓Collaborative team player, eager to find the best solution while balancing cost and schedule
  • ✓Acute attention to detail, ability to see interactions with other systems to avoid problems
  • ✓Intermediate skill level using CAD (NX a plus)
  • ✓Ability to verify designs with simplified hand calculations; experience in finite element analysis (FEA) or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a plus
  • ✓American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) piping and pressure vessel design experience
  • ✓Creative and passionate approach to addressing opportunities and challenges, and an enthusiastic, self-motivated, positive can-do attitude
  • ✓Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Requirements

  • ✓Ability to respond to emergencies to support priority projects, missions, and launches
  • ✓Ability to work extended hours and weekends as needed; flexibility is required
  • ✓Ability to work in extreme outdoor environments when needed – heat, cold, wind, rain, etc.
  • ✓Ability to work in an environment requiring exposure to fumes, odors, and noise
  • ✓Working conditions may be in tight quarters and physical dexterity is required
  • ✓Ability to perform job duties that require standing, kneeling, crouching, twisting upper body, working in cramped positions in small openings, and climbing hand over hand
  • ✓Ability to lift heavy objects up to 25 lbs. unassisted
  • ✓Ability to work on ladders, lifts, and at elevated heights (up to 300 feet) with proper personal protective equipment (PPE)
  • ✓Stand: Up to 6 hours per day
  • ✓Sit: Up to 6 hours per day
  • ✓Push/Pull: Up to ≤ 50 lbs. (unassisted) 15 minutes or less per day
  • ✓Overhead reach: Up to 3 hours per day
  • ✓Walk: Up to 10 hours per day
  • ✓Lift/Carry: Up to ≤ 25 lbs. (unassisted) 15 minutes or less per day
  • ✓Climb (ladder/stairs): Up to 1 hour per day
  • ✓Kneel/Crouch: Up to 3 hours per day
  • ✓Upper body twist: Up to 3 hours per day
  • ✓Ability to work in temperatures over 80 degrees 6 hours or greater per day
  • ✓Candidate must be capable of safely working at heights (up to 500ft), in confined spaces, operating heavy equipment and machinery, and performing the physical

requirements

of the job listed in the job description. Candidate may be required to complete a pre-employment questionnaire and/or physical to confirm these capabilities, which

Show full description ↓

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.

Launch engineer, fluid systems (starship)

Aggressively-paced, constantly-evolving, results-focused, real-as-it-gets engineering positions available for the ambitious. We design, build, activate, modify, improve, and maintain the fluid systems that fuel the most powerful rocket in the world. Aimed at pivoting and fixing issues every day, you can plan on having your skills put to the test, having hardware you designed, made, and installed the same day in a development-focused environment. From tens of thousands of gallons per minute of cryogens to tens of pounds per second of high-pressure gas, we develop clever solutions to meet the needs of a demanding launch and test program both today and in the future.

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