Principal Mechanical Engineer (Starship)

The role

The mechanical engineer designs and builds flight hardware such as propellant tanks, integration interfaces, primary structures, and structural subassemblies. You will develop design concepts, perform structural testing, and support hardware assembly in the factory.

What you will do

• Develop design concepts from a clean sheet and size vehicle structures based on flight loads
• Collaborate with peers from different vehicle systems to develop designs that balance mass, cost, and capability
• Create detailed designs to implement structural concepts and generate CAD models in NX
• Build finite element models to assess designs and analyze structures
• Apply first-order hand calculations and empirical formulas to assess and iterate on designs
• Validate designs by building development articles to test individual joints and design elements
• Perform structural testing on subassemblies and full sections of the airframe
• Partner with build engineers and technicians to improve designs
• Support the assembly of hardware in the factory

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 7+ years of experience with mechanical design and analysis
• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary
• Stand: Up to 3 hours per day
• Sit: Up to 6 hours per day
• Push/Pull: Up to 50lbs. (unassisted) Up to 15 minutes per day
• Overhead reach: Up to 3 hours per day
• Walk: Up to 3 hours per day
• Lift/Carry: Up to 25lbs. (unassisted) Up to 15 minutes per day
• Climb (ladder/stairs): Up to 1 hour per day
• Ability to work in temperatures over 80 degrees: up to 30 minutes per day
• Capable of safely working at heights (up to 500ft), in confined spaces, using an air purifying respirator

Nice to have

• Experience designing, analyzing, building, and testing high performance, mechanical systems
• Experience working within interdisciplinary teams to develop solutions to challenging and complex problems
• Experience with FEA or multiphysics simulation package (e.g. NASTRAN, ABAQUS, ANSYS)
• Experience designing and executing qualification testing
• Strong understanding of mechanical first principles and structural analysis methodologies
• Proficiency in selecting materials and manufacturing methods for mechanical components
• Analytical/scientific programming experience (i.e. Python, Matlab, Excel)
• Self-motivated with strong organizational, written, and oral communication skills

Before you apply

• Applicant must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful, permanent resident, Refugee, or Asylee, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State
• May be required to complete a pre-employment questionnaire and/or physical to confirm capabilities, which may include a medical history review

About the company

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. The company is actively developing technologies to enable human life on Mars.