Design Reliability Engineer (Falcon & Dragon)

United States Digital Space LLC; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

401(k) plan

Medical, vision, dental coverage

Paid vacation

Paid holidays

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC is seeking a Design Reliability Engineer to support Falcon & Dragon programs, developing and verifying reliability criteria across flight hardware and systems. You will drive cross-functional collaboration with engineering teams to ensure mission success.

The role entails establishing verification strategies, peer reviews, and hands-on problem solving for launch vehicles and spacecraft, with ITAR and long hours as part of the job.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline.
• 1+ years of professional hardware engineering experience.
• Experience with aerospace systems and launch vehicles.
• Experience with commercial FEA packages (NASTRAN, ABAQUS, or ANSYS).
• Hands-on with manufacturing tools and processes (mills, lathes, electronics, composites).

Responsibilities

• Ensure that the design criteria are followed for flight, launch, and recovery systems.
• Provide peer review and approval of hardware designs during design reviews and qualification campaigns.
• Develop design criteria, requirements, and verification approaches for new systems.
• Set up processes to enable reliable aircraft-like operations of launch vehicles and spacecraft.
• Drive improvements to vehicle design with hardware teams.
• Review vehicle changes to ensure all hardware and operations are qualified.
• Develop specialized design and analysis tools for other engineering groups.

Skills

Master's degree in engineering

Fabrication & testing

Aerospace systems

FEA software: NASTRAN/ABAQUS/ANSYS

Project ownership on engineering teams

Electromechanical design

Manufacturing tools & processes

Material selection / make vs buy

Scripting: VB, Matlab, Python, Excel

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Master's degree in engineering

Tools

FEA software: NASTRAN/ABAQUS/ANSYS

Job description

the company 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 the company is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.

DESIGN RELIABILITY ENGINEER (FALCON & DRAGON)

The the company engineering teams tackle space exploration’s most challenging problems by developing our reusable launch vehicles (Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy) and spacecraft (Crew & Cargo Dragon). These vehicles are responsible for delivering satellites into orbit, crew, and cargo to the ISS, and they will be instrumental in extending humanity’s reach to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

The design criteria & reliability team is responsible for ensuring that flight hardware and operations lead to the successful completion of missions while meeting or exceeding design requirements. We perform a unique engineering role, evaluating and guiding engineering designs from concept to flight. We facilitate cross-disciplinary action and problem-solving across all the company programs and staff.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Ensure that the the company design process and design criteria/requirements are being followed for flight, launch, and recovery systems
• Provide critical peer review and approval of hardware designs during design reviews, and of acceptance and qualification test campaigns
• Develop design criteria, requirements, and verification approaches for new systems
• Setup new processes to enable reliable aircraft-like operations of launch vehicles and spacecraft
• Drive improvements to vehicle design by being closely integrated with hardware teams.
• Review vehicle changes to ensure all hardware and operations are qualified
• Develop specialized design and analysis tools for other engineering groups

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 1+ years of professional experience in a hardware engineering role

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master's degree in an engineering discipline
• Hardware experience performing fabrication, assembly, and/or testing - can be in a professional, academic, or recreational setting
• Experience with aircraft, launch vehicles, spacecraft, or other aerospace systems
• Experience with at least one commercial FEA package (NASTRAN, ABAQUS, or ANSYS)
• Hardware ownership on an award-winning engineering project or competition team (FSAE, Design-Build-Fly, NASA Student Launch, etc.)
• Experience with electromechanical system design, analysis, testing, and fabrication for use in high-performance or safety critical applications
• Hands on experience with various industry standard manufacturing tools, techniques and processes, including mills, lathes, electronics assembly, composite layup, etc.
• Experience with material selection and make vs. buy decisions for system components
• Scripting and data analysis experience using Visual Basic, Matlab, Python and Excel

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be available to work long hours and weekends as necessary

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay Range

Level I: $100,000.00 - $130,000.00/per year

Level II: $115,000.00 - $160,000.00/per year

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at the company. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.

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.

the company is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with the company is governed on the basis of merit, competence and 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 the company’s Aff... or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to [e-mail].