Thermal Engineer (Falcon, Dragon, & Starfall)

About the role

The Aero/Thermal/Fluids (ATF) group owns the thermal design of SpaceX's launch vehicles, spacecraft, and hardware for Falcon, Dragon, and Starfall. As a thermal engineer in ATF, you will take hardware from a blank page: setting the thermal architecture, sizing the design, driving it through CAD and build, and validating it against ground test, flight, and on-orbit data.

You'll make the engineering calls that keep components within limits across every phase of flight - ascent, on-orbit, reentry, and improve system performance to help us fly more, and more reliably. The group's charter also spans aerothermal and vehicle fluid systems, so there's ample room to broaden into adjacent disciplines, but this role's center of gravity is clean-sheet-to-built-hardware thermal design and analysis.

Responsibilities

• Own the thermal design of spacecraft, launch-vehicle, special-program, and component hardware end-to-end: from initial concept and high-level trades, through detailed 3D and reduced-order modeling, into CAD/build, and out to validation against ground test, flight, and orbital data (e.g. on-orbit thermal analysis, thermal protection system (TPS) sizing, heater and coolant-loop design, acceptance/qualification test-level derivation, issue-ticket resolution)
• Translate thermal analysis into real design decisions - materials, coatings, insulation, interfaces, heater and TCS architecture - and carry them from concept to flight hardware
• Automate your workflow to cut engineering investment in the design cycle
• Pursue performance and robustness improvements in the hardware
• Pursue operational simplicity and reduce the burden your designs place on other groups at SpaceX
• Produce quality documentation of your work to reduce miss-rate and improve efficiency
• Review peer work

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 1+ years of experience using programming languages including, but not limited to, Python, MATLAB, and EES (internships and school projects apply)

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience taking hardware from clean-sheet concept through detailed design, build, and test validation
• Experience with Thermal Desktop and ANSYS Workbench
• Experience with 3D and reduced-order thermal modeling
• Ability to identify analysis cases and quickly evaluate the impact of design decisions on the hardware
• Experience sizing TPS using reduced-order modeling
• Experience with the Fully Implicit Ablation and Thermal Analysis Program (FIAT)
• Experience with Sinda/Fluint
• Experience with propulsion and vehicle fluid-system design and analysis
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Ability to deliver against an aggressive schedule
• Fundamentals in aerodynamics and aerothermal analysis; exposure to CFD (FUN3D, DPLR, US3D, LociChem) and mesh generation (Pointwise, StarCCM+)

Additional Requirements

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

Pay range

Level I: $100,000.00 - $117,500.00/per year

Level II: $115,000.00 - $140,000.00/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.