Sr. Responsible Engineer - Turbomachinery (Starship)

About the role

This role as a responsible engineer (RE) focuses on the development of turbomachinery for Starship's fluid systems, with the goal of creating high-performance and highly manufacturable interplanetary vehicles. The position involves designing, analyzing, and building advanced turbopumps that manage pressurization for Starship throughout all phases of travel to the Moon and Mars, including in-space propellant transfer. This is a unique opportunity to expand the frontiers of turbomachinery knowledge and manage cryogenic fluids in space.

Key responsibilities include sizing turbomachinery components, performing detailed mechanical design, conducting structural and fluid analysis, and overseeing the manufacturing and assembly of parts and systems. The RE will be the primary owner of turbomachinery hardware, tasked with developing the concept of operations for each unit, from acceptance testing through in-flight performance.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of turbomachinery and manufacturing engineers, driving the rapid development and execution of designs for Starship's propulsion system turbomachinery
• Design, build and test turbopumps for Starship, the most advanced orbital vehicle propulsion system ever designed
• Develop and train teammates to support empowered product ownership utilizing risk-conscious decision-making skills under pressure
• Own turbomachinery product families - every engineer at SpaceX assumes profound responsibility for their hardware
• Interface with our world-class production team to ensure that your team's designs are successfully translated into the fleet of rockets that is revolutionizing access to space
• Maintain a positive and constructive attitude in the face of technical and non-technical challenges
• Work collaboratively with commercial and governmental customers to ensure 100% mission success

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 5+ years of professional experience in turbomachinery design and analysis role (Structural and/or fluid)
• Professional experience with 3D CAD modeling, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), manufacturing process and machine setup

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master's degree in an engineering discipline
• Experience in a highly technical position that required a scrappy, entrepreneurial manner to enthusiastically accomplish tasks with tight time or budget constraints
• Management experience leading a technical team, cooperating with cross-functional groups to accomplish outstanding results
• Demonstrated leadership qualities through cross-functional teamwork on challenging problems
• Understanding of engineering fundamentals and the ability to perform basic analysis
• Strong desire to mentor and grow employees
• Deep understanding of thermodynamics, compressible and incompressible flow, thermochemistry mechanics, structural design in demanding environments, and/or materials
• Professional experience using Siemens NX (Unigraphics), ANSYS or Fluent

Additional Requirements

• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed to resolve critical technical or timing issues
• Ability to perform hands-on work in all environments (heat, cold, rain), in tight quarters or at heights
• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as needed; flexibility required
• Ability to focus while working in hazardous conditions and wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)

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.