Welding Engineer at SpaceX
Hawthorne, CA, United States
SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.
WELDING ENGINEER
This position will support manufacturing and development of SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Starship launch vehicles, Dragon spacecraft, and Starlink satellites alongside a strong group of design and build engineers. The person in this position will help develop, qualify, and optimize welding designs and processes including but not limited to; electron beam welding, laser beam welding, gas tungsten arc welding, orbital tube welding, resistance welding, gas metal arc welding, and plasma arc welding. The welding engineer in this role will interface daily with design and manufacturing engineers to make welding judgment calls and improvements and will enforce standardized practices and procedures on multiple welded assemblies.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Develop, optimize, and qualify weld processes and parameters for multiple welding processes including but not limited to: electron beam welding, laser beam welding, gas tungsten arc welding, orbital tube welding, resistance welding, gas metal arc welding, friction stir welding, and plasma arc welding
Support production operations on full scale welded assemblies, providing direction to manufacturing engineers and welders on correct techniques in a fast paced manufacturing environment
Support design, manufacturing, and materials engineering with root cause analysis
Work closely with design, tooling, automation, and development engineers to improve welded designs for manufacturing
Set up welding qualification test campaigns and interpret mechanical testing and NDE results
Work closely with NDE personnel to interpret weld quality on development and flight hardware in addition to developing and implementing innovative state-of-the-art NDE techniques
Develop and implement improved process control where possible using test and NDE results as feedback loop
Set up automated welding solutions in an effort to drive process consistency
Scope out new welding technologies that may be employed to improve rate/quality/efficiency
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
Hands-on fabrication, manufacturing, or testing experience of welded assemblies
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
Master's degree in welding engineering or related technical program
Hands on welding experience of stainless steel, nickel-based, titanium, copper, and aluminum alloys
Experience with brazing, joining, and metallographic interpretation
Fundamental understanding of welding processes including, but not limited to, electron beam, laser beam, plasma arc, resistance, friction-stir, gas tungsten arc, and gas metal arc
Robot programming experience for automated welding solutions
Tooling design experience for welded assemblies to reduce part distortion and improve part consistency
Understanding of weld strength testing methodologies, standards, and data acquisition systems used to make informed welding decisions (ASTM E8, E399, E740, ISO 15653, AWS D17.X, AWS C7.X, thermos-couples, strain gages, etc.)
Experience with root cause analysis and corrective actions including, but not limited to, optical and SEM fractography / metallography, hardness, chemical analysis, and mechanical testing
Self-motivated engineer with keen attention to detail
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
Position will be based in Hawthorne, California supporting on-site manufacturing and development of Starlink, F9, Dragon, Starship, and related propulsion engines.
Must be willing to work long hours and weekends as needed to support and maintain build schedules
Travel may be required to other SpaceX facilities in Texas and Washington state (up to 50%)
Ability to perform job duties that require standing, kneeling, crouching, twisting upper body, working in cramped positions in small openings and climbing hand over hand
Strong ability to multi-task and communicate status and results with broad spectrum of internal and external departments
ITAR REQUIREMENTS:
SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX's Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should notify the Human Resources Department at (310) 363-6000.
