Welding Engineer – Aerospace Starship Projects

SpaceX; Texas; On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is hiring a Welding Engineer (Starship) to advance welding designs for Starship launch vehicles. You will collaborate with design and build teams to optimize welds and enforce standardized welding methods across assemblies.

The role requires developing welding qualification tests, interpreting mechanical and NDE results, and driving process improvements for manufacturing reliability. Long hours and weekend work may be needed depending on build schedules.

Qualifications

• Hands-on welding experience in various alloys.
• Familiar with multiple welding processes and standards.
• Experience with root cause analysis and failure investigations.

Responsibilities

• Develop, qualify, and optimize weld processes for Starship hardware.
• Support production with welding techniques and best practices.
• Collaborate with design and manufacturing to improve welds.
• Lead welding qualification test campaigns and analyze results.
• Develop and implement advanced NDE methods for welds.

Skills

Hands-on welding

Welding processes

NDE interpretation

Root cause analysis

Robotics

Tooling design

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Master’s degree in welding engineering

Tools

Robot programming

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.

WELDING ENGINEER (STARSHIP)

This position will support the development of SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicles alongside a strong design-and-build engineering group. The welding engineer will help develop, qualify, and optimize welding designs and processes. The engineer will interface daily with design-and-build engineers to make welding improvements and enforce standardized practices and procedures on multiple welded assemblies.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop, optimize, and qualify weld processes and parameters for multiple welding processes, including but not limited to electron beam welding, laser beam welding, gas tungsten arc welding, orbital tube welding, resistance welding, gas metal arc welding, friction stir welding, and plasma arc welding
• Support production operations on full-scale welded assemblies, providing direction to manufacturing engineers and welders on correct techniques in a fast-paced manufacturing environment
• Support design, manufacturing, and materials engineering with root cause analysis
• Work closely with design, tooling, automation, and development engineers to improve welded designs for manufacturing
• Set up welding qualification test campaigns and interpret mechanical testing and NDE results
• Work closely with NDE personnel to interpret weld quality on development and flight hardware in addition to developing and implementing innovative state-of-the-art NDE techniques
• Develop and implement improved process control where possible using test and NDE results as a feedback loop
• Set up automated welding solutions in an effort to drive process consistency
• Scope out new welding technologies that may be employed to improve rate/quality/efficiency

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline
• 1+ years of experience with hands-on fabrication, manufacturing, or testing experience of welded assemblies

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree in welding engineering or related technical program
• Hands-on welding experience in stainless steel, nickel-based, titanium, copper, and aluminum alloys
• Experience with brazing, joining, and metallographic interpretation
• Fundamental understanding of welding processes including, but not limited to, electron beam, laser beam, plasma arc, resistance, friction-stir, gas tungsten arc, and gas metal arc
• Robot programming experience for automated welding solutions
• Tooling design experience for welded assemblies to reduce part distortion and improve part consistency
• Understanding of weld strength testing methodologies, standards, and data acquisition systems used to make informed welding decisions (ASTM E8, E399, E740, ISO 15653, AWS D17.X, AWS C7.X, thermos-couples, strain gages, etc.)
• Experience with root cause analysis and corrective actions including, but not limited to, optical and SEM fractography/metallography, hardness, chemical analysis, and mechanical testing
• Self-motivated engineer with keen attention to detail

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be willing to work long hours and weekends as needed to support and maintain build schedules
• Ability to perform job duties that require standing, kneeling, crouching, twisting upper body, working in cramped positions in small openings, and climbing hand over hand
• Strong ability to multi-task and communicate status and results with a broad spectrum of internal and external departments

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.

Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to [e-mail].