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Welding Engineer (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. 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.

They ask for
1+ years · degree required
Tools it names
Root cause, Robotics, Automation, Welding, Tooling

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026

Manufacturing Engineer roles in Texas: typical posted base $79k–$132k.

Median of the low and high ends of 33 live postings that list pay, out of 148 manufacturing engineer openings in Texas, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.

Texas plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →

How this role compares

Against 147 other live manufacturing postings in Texas.

Base pay
Not listed in this posting

Typical $79k–$132k, from 33 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 57%
  • ✓ Root cause 51%
  • Lean 39%
  • ✓ New product launch 39%
  • ✓ Automation 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 doing this work there first.

At a glance

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

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  2. 2

    Send a short, curious note

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  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?
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  4. 4

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  5. 5

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This plant: SpaceX in Starbase

48 other open roles at this site · 1 person we found in manufacturing roles at SpaceX.

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Full description from SpaceXAs posted on their careers site.Show

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 a 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

Qualifications

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

Preferred skills and experience

  • ✓Master’s degree in welding engineering or related technical program
  • ✓Hands-on welding experience in 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

Requirements

  • ✓Must be willing to work long hours and weekends as needed to support and maintain build schedules
  • ✓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
  • ✓Strong ability to multi-task and communicate status and results with a broad spectrum of internal and external departments

ITAR

Requirements

  • ✓To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here .

qualifications

and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to EEOCompliance@spacex.com .

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.

Welding engineer (starship)

This position will support the development of SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicles alongside a strong design-and-build engineering group. The welding engineer will help develop, qualify, and optimize welding designs and processes. The engineer will interface daily with design-and-build engineers to make welding improvements and enforce standardized practices and procedures on multiple welded assemblies.

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