Supplier Dev Engineer - Fasteners & Hardware (Aerospace)

SpaceX; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

401(k) retirement plan

Medical, vision, and dental coverage

Paid time off and holidays

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Supplier Development Engineer to own the fastener and hardware supply chain for Starship, working hands-on on shop floors and in metrology labs. The role emphasizes qualification of suppliers, process validation, and aggressive production ramp decisions to ensure reliability and flight readiness.

You will partner with design and manufacturing to improve parts, lead root-cause analyses, and drive supply-chain improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline.
• 1+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, process engineering, or supplier development.

Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical hardware commodity for Starship: Fasteners, Dynamics, and fluid control, from supplier selection through rate production.
• Serve as the primary technical contact for assigned parts and suppliers; resolve manufacturing, quality, and capacity issues threatening build schedules.
• Lead new product introduction (NPI) and work transfers for fastener and hardware products; qualify suppliers, validate processes, and ramp production to aggressive takt times.
• Drive production part approval and process validation (PPAP, FAIR, capability studies) to prove critical characteristics before hardware reaches the vehicle.
• Lead containment on nonconforming hardware; define scope with engineering, quality, and production; execute disposition and prevent recurrence.
• Root‑cause defects at supplier or SpaceX; include heat treat, plating, thread forming, machining, material certs, and GD&T escapes.
• Collaborate with design and manufacturing engineering to improve part designs, specifications, and process callouts for manufacturability and cost.
• Assess supplier capability and capacity; develop underperforming suppliers or re-source when required.
• Work with procurement to identify and grow exceptional fastener suppliers meeting aerospace quality and SpaceX rate.
• Become the go‑to expert on parts and processes; own supply‑chain defects and drive them to zero escapes.
• Represent SpaceX as SAE liaison; attend technical committee meetings and advocate for company standards on fasteners.

Skills

Mechanical fasteners

Fastener manufacturing

NDT methods

Aerospace standards

Supplier assessment

PPAP/APQP

Quality systems

Root cause analysis

GD&T proficiency

CAD proficiency

Process improvement

Communication skills

Lean manufacturing

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

CAD

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Supplier Development Engineer to own the fastener and hardware supply chain for Starship, working hands-on on shop floors and in metrology labs. The role emphasizes qualification of suppliers, process validation, and aggressive production ramp decisions to ensure reliability and flight readiness.

You will partner with design and manufacturing to improve parts, lead root-cause analyses, and drive supply-chain improvements.