Sr. Launch Reliability Engineer (Launch Pads & Recovery)

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Town of Florida (NY); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP, located in the Town of Florida, NY, is seeking a Sr. Launch Reliability Engineer. The role involves ensuring the reliability of launch systems, collaborating with various teams, and driving improvements in operational processes. Candidates should have a bachelor’s degree in engineering or physics, with a minimum of 5 years in a related role. Preferred qualifications include a master’s degree in engineering and knowledge of quality tools. This position may require extended hours and passing an Air Force background check.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in quality, manufacturing, or design engineering role.
• Ability to pass Air Force background check for Cape Canaveral.
• Available to work extended hours, nights, and weekends as required.

Responsibilities

• Ensure systems and infrastructure for launch operations are efficiently designed and executed.
• Identify high-risk processes and implement improvements.
• Participate in design reviews for quality assurance.

Skills

Quality tools knowledge

Lean principles

Six Sigma

Root cause analysis

Engineering project leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or physics

Master’s degree in engineering (preferred)

Job description

Sr. Launch Reliability Engineer (Launch Pads & Recovery)

Cape Canaveral, FL

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.

The Launch Reliability organization at SpaceX is an inclusive, interdisciplinary team that is committed to the reliability of flight and ground components and promotes efficient and reliable operational processes. As a Launch Reliability Engineer, you will collaborate with core groups, guiding the hardware from design to production, operation, and maintenance. You will use data to understand the factors that drive reliability, support quality objectives in design and development teams, and drive improvements in reliability in manufacturing, test and flight. You will dive deep into technical problems and use a system-level approach to prioritize issues for the vehicle as a whole. You will spend time in the office, on the factory floor, and on the launch pads and recovery decks to execute on the mission of making humanity interplanetary. You will partner with Flight Reliability, Launch Engineering, and Launch Operations teams to ensure mission success as SpaceX marches towards crewed spaceflight and Mars colonization. You will also have the opportunity to work on diverse projects including Falcon 9, Dragon, and Starship programs.

Responsibilities

• Reliably launch astronauts and other payloads by ensuring the systems, processes, and infrastructure critical to launch operations and rocket recovery are efficiently designed, maintained, and executed
• Interact with the various disciplines responsible for the development and build of Starship and Falcon launch pad systems to ensure optimized process health
• Identify high‑risk processes and problems during launch pad and recovery system refurbishment and integrated operations, and proactively implement improvements to these processes to ensure operational excellence
• Find smart solutions to the biggest problems by leading root cause and corrective action investigations
• Maintain a feedback loop to drive hardware inputs that enable a reliable and rapid launch cadence; using data to make the quality landscape transparent and drive prioritization of resolving high impact issues
• Participate in preliminary design review (PDR)/critical design review (CDR) and work with design reliability to ensure design for quality (DFQ), design for manufacturability (DFM), risk quantification/mitigation, and that appropriate test validation methods and inspection techniques, including nondestructive evaluation methods have been considered
• Be dedicated to adopting a Lean approach to quality without compromising safety or reliability

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline or physics
• 5+ years of experience in a quality, manufacturing, or design engineering role

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in an engineering discipline (e.g., aerospace, mechanical, etc.)
• Experience supporting production of complex electro‑mechanical, mechanical or composite systems in high‑volume work centers and/or during production ramp‑up
• Knowledge of quality tools such as Lean principles, Six Sigma, root cause analysis and corrective action, advanced product quality planning (APQP), metrology, process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA), control plans, and various problem solving approaches
• Experience owning and leading engineering projects end‑to‑end

Additional Requirements

• Ability to pass Air Force background check for Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg
• Available to work extended hours, nights, and weekends when required by mission milestones
• Position may require standing, bending and working directly with hardware on the floor for extended periods of time
• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or 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.