Mechanical Engineer, Starship Tooling

About the role

As a member of the Starship Tooling team at Cape Canaveral, you will work with a group of engineers across multiple disciplines to design, build, and activate the launch pad hardware, recovery systems, and production tooling that launch and catch the most powerful rocket in the world.

This team sits at the intersection of two disciplines. The first is structural design: large welded steel structures, heavy plates, load paths, and bolted and welded connections that react hundreds of thousands of pounds. The second is machine design: hold-downs, sliders, and actuated mechanisms with precise pin fits, bearings, and kinematics that must work the first time and every time.

The hardware is big, the loads are high, and the schedule is short. You will own your hardware end to end, from the first hand calculation and NX model through fabrication planning with our internal welding and toolmaking teams, build, and activation testing.

Responsibilities

• Design, analyze, build, and activate mechanical hardware for Starship launch pads, recovery systems, and production tooling, spanning large welded steel structures and precision mechanisms such as hold-downs, sliders, and actuated systems
• Demonstrate complete end-to-end project ownership: define requirements, develop the concept, size it with hand calculations and analysis, release detailed models and prints, plan fabrication, lead the build, execute activation testing, and hand over to launch operations
• Perform engineering hand calculations and finite element analysis to size structures and mechanisms, including statics and load paths, weld and bolted joint sizing, fatigue, kinematics, pin and bearing fits, and tolerance stacks
• Design mass-efficient welded steel structures and define clear load paths for hardware that reacts very high static and dynamic loads
• Design, prototype, and test mechanisms with precise fits and kinematics; specify GD&T that controls the features that matter
• Create detailed models and engineering prints in NX and manage large assembly models
• Create manufacturing planning for scope performed by internal welding, machining, and toolmaking teams, and manage outside fabricators and suppliers where needed
• Support hardware activation with the controls engineering team and perform development and acceptance testing with production and launch operations teams
• Lead in-field troubleshooting: safe the system when hardware behaves unexpectedly, then lead root-cause analysis and corrective action
• Work closely with launch operations teams and their leadership to ensure the products we deliver meet form, function, and aesthetic expectations
• Make development decisions based on cost and schedule considerations and present cost and schedule trade proposals to leadership
• Work hands-on alongside technicians, welders, and machinists when needed to get hardware built, installed, and activated on time

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 1+ years of professional experience using NX, CATIA, Creo, or SolidWorks design software package or ANSYS, ABAQUS, or FEMAP software (internship and project experience applies)

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 1+ years of experience in a professional setting designing, analyzing, or building mechanical structures
• Demonstrated proficiency in both structural design (plates, weldments, load paths, bolted and welded connections) and machine design (mechanisms, kinematics, precision fits, bearings, actuators)
• Strong fundamentals in statics, dynamics, and mechanics of materials, and the ability to apply them quickly and correctly in hand calculations
• Experience designing and fabricating mass-efficient welded structures
• Experience designing and testing mechanisms
• Experience with finite element analysis
• Experience with large-scale hardware (launch or ground support equipment, heavy industrial equipment, cranes and lifting, shipbuilding, or heavy machinery) and the loads, materials, and fabrication methods that come with it
• Experience working in a production facility or on a build site with equipment and machinery, including hands-on fabrication, build, and activation
• Experience managing large CAD assembly models and drawings; experience with NX
• Strong understanding and demonstrated application of GD&T
• Skilled in reading and interpreting engineering drawings, parts lists, and specifications
• Master's degree in mechanical engineering
• Project management experience in the aerospace, industrial, or power generation industry
• Ability to work well in an integrated collaborative team environment including daily interactions with technicians, engineers, suppliers, and leadership
• Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Passion for hands-on work when needed to enable project completion
• Proactive, self-starter attitude and ability to lead projects throughout their entirety

Additional Requirements

• Ability to pass Air Force background check for Cape Canaveral
• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary
• Willing to travel to other SpaceX locations as necessary
• Work schedule may vary depending on site operational needs, and flexibility is required
• Lifting, standing, climbing, bending, grasping, sitting, pulling, pushing, stooping, stretching, and carrying are generally required to perform the functions of this position

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.