Materials & Special Processes Supplier Dev Engineer

SpaceX; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Bonus opportunities

Employee stock purchase plan

Medical coverage

Vision coverage

Dental coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Paid parental leave

3 weeks of paid vacation

10+ paid holidays per year

Sick leave

Job summary

SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA is seeking a Supplier Development Engineer, Materials & Special Processes to lead the external supply base for Falcon and Dragon programs. This role blends manufacturing and quality with NPI and PPAP responsibilities.

You will manage DFMs, drive supplier qualifications, and push for on-time delivery while solving high-impact production challenges. Travel up to 40–50% is required and on-site work is expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline.
• 1+ years of experience in a manufacturing or process engineering role (including school projects, clubs, or internships).
• Experience in special processes such as thin film coatings, thermal spray coatings, chemical processing, plating, thermal protection systems and/or similar products/processes.

Responsibilities

• Act as the technical point of contact for outsourced specials processes and consumables such as paints, adhesives, and chemicals, solving emergent challenges at suppliers and mitigating risk to the manifest by addressing high-impact manufacturing and quality challenges
• Review issues on assigned parts and solve to the root cause, implementing changes at the supplier, at SpaceX or both, as appropriate, drive further actions to closure, and re-source to new suppliers where appropriate
• Create and disposition issue tickets where needed, working with engineering counterparts to implement, but not limited to, required re-work, repair, or use as-is disposition
• Become thoroughly familiar with your assigned products and processes that make up the overall assembly and become the primary point of contact for supply chain related defects
• Work with procurement to find exceptional suppliers and vet them appropriately for quality and ability to meet our aggressive takt times
• Conduct design for manufacturing (DFM) reviews to ensure parts are manufacturable at early stages, preferably prior to sourcing
• Own the new product introduction (NPI) process at a supplier for new parts, drawing changes, or when re-sourcing existing parts to a new supplier
• Drive the production part approval process (PPAP) program to ensure stable supply, reduce inspection oversight, and improve overall delivery time
• Demonstrate innovation, technical excellence, attention to detail, self-direction, and courage
• Drive for results and customer satisfaction by collaborating with teams, leading projects, and continuously driving improvement in the supply base
• Lead containment activities on assigned parts, working with cross-functional counterparts to agree on scope, path forward, and ultimate resolution

Skills

Leadership

Problem solving

NPI/PPAP

DFM reviews

Lean Six Sigma

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

MS Office

Excel

SQL

Job description

SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA is seeking a Supplier Development Engineer, Materials & Special Processes to lead the external supply base for Falcon and Dragon programs. This role blends manufacturing and quality with NPI and PPAP responsibilities.

You will manage DFMs, drive supplier qualifications, and push for on-time delivery while solving high-impact production challenges. Travel up to 40–50% is required and on-site work is expected.