Senior Machining Engineer, Starship Production Lead

InvestedintheMission; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical, vision & dental insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid vacation & holidays

Job summary

SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA is seeking a Sr. Manufacturing Engineer, Machining (Starship) to lead in-house machining capabilities and drive DFM analyses for high-precision Starship parts.

You will partner with design, testing and production teams to ensure scalable manufacturing and robust quality. The role requires 5+ years in machine shops, experience moving R&D designs into production, and expertise with CNCs, metrology tools, and capital equipment strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or physics (must).
• 5+ years machine shop experience.
• Experience taking products from R&D into production.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and expansion of in-house machining capabilities for Starship components, ensuring high-precision parts to assembly lines.
• Conduct DFM analyses to optimize designs for manufacturability, assembly, and testing.
• Foster feedback loops with downstream operations to drive rapid improvements and mitigate risks.
• Investigate and resolve quality issues from inspections, authorizing dispositions for out-of-tolerance conditions.
• Identify, procure, install, and maintain machine shop equipment and calibration protocols.

Skills

Leadership in manufacturing

DFM analyses

Production ramp-up

Cross-functional collaboration

Cost optimization

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or physics

Master’s or PhD in engineering

Tools

CNCs & conventional lathe/mill

CNC programming (lathe & mill)

CMMs/photogrammetry/3D imaging

Job description

SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA is seeking a Sr. Manufacturing Engineer, Machining (Starship) to lead in-house machining capabilities and drive DFM analyses for high-precision Starship parts.

You will partner with design, testing and production teams to ensure scalable manufacturing and robust quality. The role requires 5+ years in machine shops, experience moving R&D designs into production, and expertise with CNCs, metrology tools, and capital equipment strategy.