Thermal Control and Life Support Hardware Engineer (Crew Starship)

About the role

After 50 years, humankind will once again return to surface of the moon using SpaceX's Crew Starship (also known as HLS or the Human Landing System) - this time for good. Leveraging the lessons learned from our flight proven Dragon spacecraft and Falcon rocket, Starship will usher in the next era of crewed spaceflight and exploration, ultimately allowing us to establish permanent communities on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

As a Thermal Control and Life Support Engineer, you will have the opportunity to utilize your knowledge, experience, and creativity to develop novel solutions at the cutting edge of space technology. This team develops the necessary hardware to maintain environmental and thermal control as well as support life onboard the Starship spacecraft. The role requires attentiveness across disciplines, as it involves design, analysis, testing, and manufacturing of components that are critical to the safety of future astronauts and passengers.

Responsibilities

• Own the conceptualization, design, and build of creative life support and thermal control systems for all Crew Starship missions, including Mars missions, across disciplines such as fans and air distribution, air sanitation, water collection and reclamation, waste management, fire suppression, and active thermal control
• Rapidly iterate on manufacturing processes and development testing in a fast-paced environment
• Be responsible for project delivery timeline from early design through production, launch, and sustained operations.
• Lead design reviews internally and externally with suppliers and customers
• Work with interdisciplinary customers to ensure the component will integrate with the necessary avionics, software, mission operations, etcetera
• Ensure designs are manufacturable and reliable
• Exemplify technical excellence and be accountable for your own work

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering or science discipline
• 1+ years of experience working with fluid systems, mechanical systems, environmental control systems, or components (internship and project team experience is applicable)

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Ability to perform trade studies using first principles and engineering fundamentals to make clear recommendations even with partial information
• Experience with rotating machinery
• Experienced in NX
• Solid understanding and application of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) and tolerance stack-up analysis
• Experience with structural analysis methods (hand calcs, ABAQUS, ANSYS) in order to optimize hardware to strength requirements as well as to evaluate for life and fracture
• Knowledge of metallic and fluid system manufacturing techniques, processes, equipment, and other processes such as machining, welding, brazing, tube bending, etc.
• Experience with selection of materials considering engineering properties, manufacturing, and fluid compatibility
• Able to work well in an integrated collaborative team environment, including frequent interactions with technicians, other engineers, and managers
• Highly self-motivated with strong organizational and written/oral communication skills - able to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment with the ongoing drive for continuous improvement in all aspects of work
• Master's degree in engineering discipline

Additional Requirements

• Must be willing to work long hours and weekends as needed to support critical milestones
• Ability to pass Air Force background checks for Cape Canaveral

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.