Senior Spacecraft Materials & Processes Engineer

Xona Space Systems; Burlingame (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Xona Space Systems is seeking a senior Materials & Processes engineer to own coatings, materials, finishes, joining methods, and manufacturing-process standards across spacecraft programs.

You will define qualification approaches, guide material selection, and lead tests to ensure reliability in vacuum, thermal cycling, and radiation environments. This role requires hands-on problem solving and cross-functional collaboration with design, manufacturing, and suppliers.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field.
• Significant experience in materials and processes, manufacturing/process engineering, materials qualification, or reliability engineering for aerospace, space, defense, aviation, automotive, medical-device, semiconductor, or other high-reliability hardware.
• Demonstrated experience taking a material or manufacturing process from development through qualification, documentation, and production implementation.
• Strong practical experience in multiple relevant areas, such as coatings/finishes, polymerics/adhesives, thermal interface materials, mechanical joints/fasteners, metals, ceramics, manufacturing processes, or environmental qualification.
• Experience designing and executing materials or process tests; interpreting data; and resolving failures, anomalies, or nonconformances.
• Experience authoring technical specifications, process instructions, qualification plans, test procedures, reports, and acceptance criteria.
• Ability to work directly with hardware, process equipment, suppliers, and test setups.
• Strong ownership, communication, organization, and cross‑functional problem‑solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Establish spacecraft M&P standards, specifications, approved-material lists, and qualification approaches.
• Define material-selection criteria balancing performance, reliability, environmental compatibility, manufacturability, cost, schedule, and scalability.
• Set traceability, handling, storage, shelf-life, lot-control, inspection, and acceptance requirements for critical materials and processes.
• Serve as the technical authority for M&P decisions during design reviews, qualification planning, anomaly investigations, supplier reviews, and production-readiness activities.
• Translate lessons learned from testing and manufacturing into durable design and process standards.
• Guide selection and qualification of spacecraft-relevant metals, coatings, finishes, polymers, adhesives, sealants, films, ceramics, and related materials.
• Assess materials for vacuum, outgassing, contamination, thermal cycling, radiation, corrosion, aging, and environmental performance.
• Develop and execute material/process tests with clear criteria, instrumentation, and data analysis.

Skills

Materials science

Aerospace engineering

Materials testing

Root-cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

BS/MS in Materials Science or related field

Tools

Vacuum systems

Failure analysis tools

Job description

Xona Space Systems is seeking a senior Materials & Processes engineer to own coatings, materials, finishes, joining methods, and manufacturing-process standards across spacecraft programs.

You will define qualification approaches, guide material selection, and lead tests to ensure reliability in vacuum, thermal cycling, and radiation environments. This role requires hands-on problem solving and cross-functional collaboration with design, manufacturing, and suppliers.