Senior Process Engineer, Starship Materials Automation

Spacex; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 215,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with company match

Medical, vision, dental insurance

Paid time off including vacation and 9

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Processing Engineer for Starship Materials Production to own equipment from design to ramp. You will lead powder handling, dispensing and mixing systems, and automate production cells with PLC/HMI/SCADA.

This onsite role involves FAT/SAT, vendor coordination, and working across materials, quality and design teams. The role requires a BS in a technical field and 5+ years of hands-on experience with related equipment, with travel to vendors for FATs and site commissioning.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, materials engineering, manufacturing engineering, or related technical discipline
• 5+ years of hands-on experience with powder handling/dispensing, industrial mixers, liquid dispensing, fluid delivery, or chemical/materials production equipment

Responsibilities

• Design, specify, procure, install, and commission powder handling/dispensing systems, industrial mixers, and liquid dispensing equipment for paints, adhesives, ablatives, sealants, fillers, and other formulated materials
• Own powder equipment including hoppers, feeders (screw, vibratory, loss-in-weight), weigh/batch systems, dust collection, pneumatic conveying, and powder-to-liquid incorporation
• Own mixers and blending equipment including agitation, vacuum/degassing, temperature control, seals, cleanability, and integration with upstream feed and downstream dispense/packaging
• Own liquid dispensing systems including pumps, meters, valves, manifolds, tanks, pressure/vacuum and temperature control, and multi-component meter-mix-dispense platforms
• Automate production cells with sensors, motion, recipe/batch control, interlocks, data logging, and PLC/HMI/SCADA integration
• Lead capital equipment projects cradle-to-grave: vendor selection, design reviews, SOWs, procurement, FAT/SAT, installation, ramp
• Travel to vendors to execute FATs, validate rate/accuracy/repeatability/cleanability/safety, and drive design corrections
• Productionize equipment and processes for NPIs, including work instructions, control plans, and rate capability demonstration
• Partner with materials, quality, production, and design to ensure formulations are mixable and dispensable at scale
• Drive root cause analysis, DOE, and SPC on mix and dispense performance; continuous improvement for throughput, changeover, cleanability, dust control, and cost
• Develop and maintain process specifications, SOPs, and equipment documentation; train technicians and hand off reliable cells to production
• Support hazardous materials handling and EHS requirements for solvent-based, reactive, and powder chemistries

Skills

powder handling

dispensing systems

industrial mixers

automation

DOE

SPC

Six Sigma

vendor coordination

Education

Bachelor’s degree in chemical/mechanical/materials/manufacturing engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

NX

Inventor

GD&T

ERP/MRP

JMP

Minitab

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Processing Engineer for Starship Materials Production to own equipment from design to ramp. You will lead powder handling, dispensing and mixing systems, and automate production cells with PLC/HMI/SCADA.

This onsite role involves FAT/SAT, vendor coordination, and working across materials, quality and design teams. The role requires a BS in a technical field and 5+ years of hands-on experience with related equipment, with travel to vendors for FATs and site commissioning.