Principal Mechanical Engineer (Starship)

Spacex; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Principal Mechanical Engineer to own the mechanical scope for Starship infrastructure from concept through fabrication and commissioning. You will design power, fluid and cooling systems, and supporting structures, setting the technical direction and delivering hardware that must perform in the field.

You will collaborate with engineering, construction, and operations to balance cost, reliability, and schedule, apply first principles and analyses, and support testing and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline.
• 7+ years of experience with mechanical design and analysis.

Responsibilities

• Develop design concepts from a clean sheet and size infrastructure systems based on operational loads, site conditions, and how the facility will actually run
• Collaborate with peers across disciplines to develop designs that balance cost, schedule, reliability, and capability
• Create detailed designs and generate CAD models for components, assemblies, and integration into the larger site
• Build analysis models to assess your designs in detail and confirm they meet the needs of the system
• Apply first-order hand calculations and empirical formulas to assess and iterate on your designs rapidly
• Validate your designs through development hardware, mockups, or first articles, and test critical joints, components, and design elements
• Support testing and commissioning of subsystems and full installations
• Partner with construction, build engineers, and technicians to improve your designs
• Support installation of your hardware in the field, witness your designs being built and brought online, and see them go into service

Skills

Mechanical design

Structural analysis

FEA

Python

Matlab

Excel

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline

Tools

NASTRAN

ABAQUS

ANSYS

Job description

Principal Mechanical Engineer (Starship)

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.

PRINCIPAL MECHANICAL ENGINEER (STARSHIP)

SpaceX is looking for a Principal Mechanical Engineer to help build the infrastructure behind power generation and supercompute at Starbase. You will own mechanical scope from concept through design, fabrication, construction, and commissioning. The work can span power generation, fluid and cooling systems, and the structures and equipment that production depends on. You will set the technical direction, work across engineering, construction, and operations, and see your decisions show up in hardware that has to perform in the field.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop design concepts from a clean sheet and size infrastructure systems based on operational loads, site conditions, and how the facility will actually run
• Collaborate with peers across disciplines to develop designs that balance cost, schedule, reliability, and capability
• Create detailed designs and generate CAD models for components, assemblies, and integration into the larger site
• Build analysis models to assess your designs in detail and confirm they meet the needs of the system
• Apply first-order hand calculations and empirical formulas to assess and iterate on your designs rapidly
• Validate your designs through development hardware, mockups, or first articles, and test critical joints, components, and design elements
• Support testing and commissioning of subsystems and full installations
• Partner with construction, build engineers, and technicians to improve your designs
• Support installation of your hardware in the field, witness your designs being built and brought online, and see them go into service

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 7+ years of experience with mechanical design and analysis

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Experience designing, analyzing, building, and testing high performance, mechanical systems
• Experience working within interdisciplinary teams to develop solutions to challenging and complex problems
• Experience with FEA or multiphysics simulation package (e.g. NASTRAN, ABAQUS, ANSYS)
• Experience designing and executing qualification testing
• Strong understanding of mechanical first principles and structural analysis methodologies
• Proficiency in selecting materials and manufacturing methods for mechanical components
• Analytical/scientific programming experience (i.e. Python, Matlab, Excel)
• Self-motivated with strong organizational, written, and oral communication skills

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be available to work extended hours and weekends when needed based on site operational needs; flexibility required
• 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.

Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Aff… G..E.S. plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to [e-mail] .

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey . Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in SpaceX’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.