Power Plant Engineer - Gas Turbine Startup & Ops

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Power Plant Engineer to own the design, build, and operation of full gas-turbine power plants. You will supervise commissioning in the control room at start-up and troubleshoot in the field, ensuring continuous online performance.

The role requires 2+ years of hands-on turbine experience and strong knowledge of control platforms, P&IDs, and field procedures. Travel to SpaceX sites and extended hours may be needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 2+ years hands-on experience with utility-scale gas turbines in commissioning, operations, or maintenance.
• Experience reading P&IDs, diagrams, and turbine control logic.

Responsibilities

• Support full lifecycle of gas turbine power generation assets: installation, commissioning, startup, operations, and long-term maintenance.
• Lead or support commissioning activities including combustion tuning and control system checkout.
• Own root-cause analysis for turbine trips and performance degradation; drive fixes to prevent recurrence.
• Develop and refine operating procedures, startup/shutdown sequences, and abnormal operating condition playbooks.
• Interface with OEMs on warranty issues, outage planning, and technical issues.
• Plan and execute inspections in line with OEM maintenance intervals.
• Analyze turbine performance data to identify efficiency losses and recommend action.
• Coordinate with balance-of-plant teams to ensure integrated performance.
• Build spare parts strategy and maintenance budgets.
• Develop relationships with EPC contractors during construction handoff.

Skills

Gas turbines

P&IDs reading

Turbine control logic

DCS/ control platforms

Root-cause analysis

Performance modeling

OEM coordination

Balance-of-plant integration

Field startup/commissioning

CAD software knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

SOLIDWORKS

Siemens NX

Mark VIe

SPPA-T3000

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Power Plant Engineer to own the design, build, and operation of full gas-turbine power plants. You will supervise commissioning in the control room at start-up and troubleshoot in the field, ensuring continuous online performance.

The role requires 2+ years of hands-on turbine experience and strong knowledge of control platforms, P&IDs, and field procedures. Travel to SpaceX sites and extended hours may be needed.