Manufacturing Engineer, Inspection (Starship Machining)

Spacex; Hawthorne (CA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

401(k)

Medical, Vision, Dental coverage

Paid vacation and holidays

Parental leave

Employee discounts

Job summary

SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA is seeking a Manufacturing Engineer, Inspection (Starship Machining) to own inspection plans and drive manufacturability improvements in collaboration with design and production teams, delivering high-precision hardware for Starship projects.

The role emphasizes reducing inspection times, improving non-conformance handling, and advancing inspection equipment while requiring a Bachelor’s degree in engineering or physics and 1+ years of machine shop or inspection experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline or physics.
• 1+ years of machine shop, manufacturing, quality, and/or inspection experience.

Responsibilities

• Determine inspection plans for machined components focusing on quality, cycle time, and reliability.
• Drive improvements to inspection processes, including reducing CMM inspection times via programming, fixturing, and workflow.
• Increase throughput and improve non-conformance management by standardizing rework guides and optimizing inspection frequency.
• Collaborate with design and manufacturing teams to improve DFx and DFInspectability (GD&T datum structures and callouts).
• Investigate and implement new inspection equipment to improve time, accuracy, and repeatability.
• Coordinate with other shops to share inspection capabilities and address capacity, scheduling, and alignment issues.

Skills

Machining experience

Inspection accuracy

Tolerance analysis

Design for manufacturability

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or physics

Tools

CMM programming

CMMs

Laser scanning

3D imaging

Photogrammetry

CNCs

Job description

Manufacturing Engineer, Inspection (Starship Machining)

Hawthorne, CA

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.

MANUFACTURING ENGINEER, INSPECTION (STARSHIP MACHINING)

As an engineer at SpaceX, you will have the opportunity to utilize your knowledge, experience, and creativity to develop novel solutions at the cutting edge of space technology. You will work on hardware that will deliver satellites into earth orbit, ferry humans to and from the international space station, and ultimately extend humanity’s reach beyond the earth and moon. You will own the relationship between our engineering, production, and quality teams, with a focus on inspection reliability and efficiency, driving design for manufacturability improvements on the hardware you own in the machine shop. You will aggressively pursue improved inspection processes that require lower touch time and optimized requirements to meet flight production rates without sacrificing reliability. You will provide input into the design and development of new and existing hardware—particularly optimizing for manufacturability and inspectability—and take a lead role in inspection processes within production on our current and next-generation vehicles, including Starship machining operations.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Determine inspection plans for a wide range of components machined at SpaceX or suppliers, with the goal of ensuring piece part quality and function while optimizing for cycle time, machine utilization, and inspection repeatability/reliability
• Drive improvements to existing inspection processes, including reducing CMM inspection times through optimized programming, fixturing, and workflow streamlining
• Increase inspection throughput and improve non-conformance management by driving projects such as standardizing rework guides, eliminating redundant checks, and optimizing frequency of inspections
• Maintain tight feedback loops with the design and manufacturing teams to improve design for manufacturability and design for inspectability (e.g., refining GD&T datum structures and callouts for stable, repeatable measurements)
• Investigate and implement novel inspection equipment and technologies that improve the factory’s capabilities and improve inspection time, accuracy, and repeatability
• Collaborate with other SpaceX machine shops and quality facilities to share inspection capabilities, develop resources, and address capacity, scheduling, and process alignment issues as necessary
• Contain non-conforming products created by the shop and work to implement short-term and long-term corrective actions after completing thorough root cause investigations

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline or physics
• 1+ years of machine shop, manufacturing, quality, and/or inspection experience (student project team or internship experience qualifies)

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Experienced with a variety of precision conventional (e.g. hand tools) and advanced (e.g. CMMs, laser scanning, 3D imaging, photogrammetry) metrology systems
• Well-versed in GD&T
• Well versed in standard machine shop manufacturing processes and set ups
• Experience setting up and operating state-of-the art inspection equipment
• Experience operating CNCs, conventional lathe and mill machines, and other machine shop equipment used to manufacture high-precision parts
• Experience with CMM programming

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to work extended hours, weekends, and offsite as needed
• Ability to lift/carry up to 25lbs (unassisted) for 1-2 hours per day

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay Range:
Level 1: $100,000.00 - $130,000.00
Level 2: $115,000.00 - $160,000.00

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 SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock 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.

• 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.

SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX 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.

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