Sr. Tooling Design Engineer, Investment Casting

SpaceX; Town of Texas (WI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Senior Tooling Design Engineer to own the design and development of wax injection molds and ceramic core molds used to produce turbine blades and vanes. You will collaborate with materials, casting, and manufacturing engineers to translate concepts into production tooling that meets tight tolerances and cooling geometries, while supporting aggressive rate and cost targets.

The role requires advanced GD&T, experience with Siemens NX and molding simulations, and hands-on mold

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical or related engineering field and 5+ years designing high-precision injection molds.
• Experience designing molds for turbine blades and vanes is highly preferred.
• Proficiency with NX and injection molding simulation tools; strong material behavior understanding.

Responsibilities

• Design high-precision wax and ceramic core molds for turbine blades and vanes.
• Interpret fill simulations and optimize gating, venting, cooling, and shrinkage.
• Manage tooling from concept through tryout, qualification, and production release.
• Collaborate with casting engineers, materials scientists, and vendors to reduce defects and improve yield.
• Apply GD&T and tolerance stack-up analysis to complex airfoil geometries.
• Support DFM initiatives to enable high-rate production with quality and cost targets.
• Interface with internal teams and tooling vendors to translate designs into production tooling.
• Drive continuous improvement of tooling standards, materials, and maintenance for high-volume casting.

Skills

Mold design

Siemens NX

Injection molding simulation

Wax/ceramic materials

DFM

Mold troubleshooting

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering

Tools

Siemens NX

CNC machining

Mold making tooling equipment

Job description

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.

SENIOR TOOLING DESIGN ENGINEER, INVESTMENT CASTING

SpaceX is seeking a Sr. Tooling Design Engineer to own the design and development of wax injection molds and ceramic core injection molds used to produce turbine blades and vanes. This role is critical to scaling reliable, high-performance cast components. You will design complex tooling that must repeatedly deliver extremely tight tolerances and intricate internal cooling geometries while supporting aggressive rate and cost targets.

As a member of the materials team, you will work closely with materials, casting, and manufacturing engineers to develop tooling solutions from concept through production qualification. Your designs will directly impact casting yield, dimensional stability, and the overall manufacturability of mission-critical hardware.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design high-precisionwax injection moldsand ceramic core injection molds for complex turbine blades and vanes
• Interpretandenable mold filling simulations and apply first-principles analysis tooptimizegating, venting, cooling, and shrinkage compensation
• Account for multi-stage shrinkage (wax, ceramic, and alloy) to consistently meet stringent dimensional and metallurgical requirements
• Own tooling designs from concept through tryout, qualification, and production release
• Collaborate closely casting engineers, materials scientists, and vendors to troubleshoot tooling-related casting defects and improve yield
• Apply advanced GD&T and tolerance stack-up analysis to complex airfoil geometries
• Support design formanufacturability(DFM) initiatives to enable high-rate production whilemaintainingquality and cost targets
• Interface with internal manufacturing teams and external tooling vendors to ensure designs are successfully translated into reliableproduction tooling
• Drive continuous improvement of tooling standards, materials, and maintenance practices for high-volume casting operations

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, or an engineering discipline
• 5+ years of professional experience designing high-precision injection molds for wax patterns or ceramics

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Demonstrated success taking complex tooling from design through production qualification
• Direct experience designing molds used in the production of turbine blades and vanes
• Experience with Siemens NX
• Experience with injection molding simulation software
• In-depth knowledge of wax and ceramic material behavior, rheology, and processing
• Deep understanding of the investment casting process and associated shrinkage/ distortion mechanisms
• Experience working in a fast-paced, high-mix manufacturing environment
• Hands-on experience supporting mold tryouts and casting process development
• Experience with manufacturing tooling, including CNC and mold making

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends whenrequired to support hardware delivery and production campaigns
• Must be willing to travel (up to25%) to external suppliers and other SpaceX facilities

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

• 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.

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