Sr. Thermal Engineer, Thermal & Fluid Analysis (Starship)

About the role

As a Senior Thermal Engineer on the Starship Thermal & Fluids analysis team, you are responsible for the thermal design, test, and validation of vehicles and hardware. You will make engineering decisions to improve vehicle performance and reliability to help create a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Own thermal design of spacecraft, launch vehicles, and hardware, from initial high-level analysis down to validation of performance with ground tests, flight, and orbital data.
• Automate workflow above to reduce engineering investment in per-mission analysis.
• Pursue performance/robustness improvements.
• Pursue operational simplicity and seek to reduce burden on other groups at SpaceX.
• Produce quality documentation of your work to reduce miss-rate and improve efficiency.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of professional experience using engineering simulation software such as MATLAB.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master's degree in an engineering discipline.
• 5+ years professional experience with thermal or fluid analysis.
• Strong understanding of spacecraft and/or launch vehicle systems.
• Experience with 0-D and 1-D thermal/fluid networks.
• Experience with Thermal Desktop and/or ANSYS Workbench.
• Working knowledge of scripting languages (specifically Python).
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to deliver against an aggressive schedule.

Additional Requirements

• Must be available to work extended hours and weekends as needed.

Pay range

Thermal Engineer/Senior: $130,000 - $180,000/per year

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year.

Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.

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.