Supplier Development Engineer (Mechanical Engineering)

About the role

SpaceX demands a new type of supply chain. We require our suppliers to provide premium quality with rapidly evolving designs at increasingly ambitious volumes. We are actively looking for candidates who possess comprehensive knowledge of manufacturing and quality tools and have unrelenting motivation to enable suppliers for success. This position will support our Starship program and requires a combination of proven leadership and technical capabilities.

This is a highly technical position that requires practical experience in manufacturing engineering and new product development through to stabilized production for an array of fabrication processes (components and assemblies) used in rockets and rocket engines.

The ideal candidate will have a broad and thorough understanding of propulsion/fluid system component fabrication including extrusions, draw forming, welded and seamless tubing, cutting, and assembly, along with associated processes. This candidate should have the desire and capability to take on new challenges in unfamiliar areas to help enable our mission to Mars.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical point of contact for assigned parts and assemblies of the rocket, solving emergent challenges at suppliers, and mitigating risk to the manifest by addressing high-impact manufacturing and quality challenges
• Own the new product introduction of new assemblies on the rocket, including determining the ideal manufacturing method, identifying suppliers, and developing a reliable process for ramping to rate. This individual is expected to be the extreme owner for the process at suppliers for new parts, drawing changes, or when re-sourcing existing parts to a new supplier
• Conduct design for manufacturing (DFM) reviews to ensure parts are manufacturable at early stages, preferably prior to sourcing
• Work with procurement to find exceptional suppliers and vet them appropriately for quality and ability to meet our aggressive takt times
• Create and develop specifications as needed to flow down quality and manufacturing requirements to the supply base
• Scope out new forming, cutting, and inspection technologies and suppliers that may be employed to improve rate/quality/efficiency
• Review issues on assigned parts and solve to the root cause, implementing changes at the supplier, at SpaceX or both, as appropriate, drive further actions to closure, and re-source to new suppliers where appropriate
• Create and disposition issue tickets where needed, working with engineering counterparts to implement, but not limited to, required re-work, repair or use as-is disposition
• Become thoroughly familiar with your assigned parts and the processes that make up the overall assembly and become the primary point of contact for supply chain related defects on your parts
• Demonstrate innovation, technical excellence, attention to detail, self-direction and courage to push the technical envelope which is conventionally held in the industry.
• Lead containment activities on assigned parts, working with cross-functional counterparts to agree on scope, path forward and ultimate resolution

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 1+ years of experience with manufacturing and/or inspection of mechanical products in a production environment

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master's degree in engineering or business
• Fundamental understanding of propulsion/fluid systems and the respective component manufacturing processes including: raw materials, draw forming, extrusions, seamless and welded tubing, pipe manufacturing, bending, welding, proof/pressure testing, and other forming & assembly processes.
• Fundamental understanding of sheet metal forming, cutting, and assembly processes, particularly in stretch forming (longitudinal and transverse), stamping (progressing and transfer), spin forming, roll forming, roll bending, press brake forming, hydroforming and tube forming/bending of primarily, but not limited to, stainless and carbon steels.
• Experience with machining and ancillary operations such as milling, turning, and tube cutting of materials
• Experience with engineering drawings, modeling, GD&T, etc.
• General familiarity with welding (TIG, MIG and orbital tube welding) of stainless and carbon steels is a plus
• Knowledge of supplier quality processes (production part approval process, advanced product quality planning, first article inspection reports, etc.)
• Knowledge of statistical techniques and methods, e.g., design of experiments, Lean, Six Sigma, etc.
• Experience with quality systems (ISO 9000/TS/AS9100/NADCAP) and MRP/ERP systems
• Disciplined approach to problem solving - 8D
• Proficient in MS Office and Excel applications and report writing
• Experience with sharing information and influencing others across organizational lines, internally and externally
• Experience with PPAP and related elements (PFD, PFMEA, control plan, process capability, etc.)
• Experience leading containments of discrepant product
• Experience in manufacturing with different grades of stainless steel

Additional Requirements

• Ability to work extended hours, some nights and/or weekends when needed
• Ability to travel: up to 40-50% work week travel

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.