Mechanical Engineer, Hardware Development (Starshield)

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.

MECHANICAL ENGINEER, HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT (STARSHIELD)

In a dynamic global security environment, SpaceX’s agility is more necessary than ever. Starshield brings SpaceX’s strengths to national security, focusing on intelligence, communications, and hosted payloads. Starshield is now looking to disrupt how our nation approaches homeland defense with proliferated ground infrastructure.

We are looking for a driven and creative engineer to serve as the responsible engineer for new sensing technology. This is an opportunity to get in on the ground-floor and be an influential decision-maker for an emerging program with potentially billions of dollars of impact. You will be a key contributor to the hardware design, demo, and production of this product.

Engineers on this team love driving projects to success and working effectively with internal and external partners and customers. We are looking for team players with exceptional communication skills and strong engineering fundamentals to tackle a wide breadth of work. The ideal candidate will have project experience in mechanical, electrical, and software engineering as well as the demonstrated ability to learn.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own hardware from conceptual design through volume production and in-flight operations to support various customers’ needs
• Work closely with partners on the RF, software, and GNC teams to develop design criteria, collaborate on requirements, and drive system-level optimization
• Rapidly iterate on designs and analysis to inform high-level systems trades and steer overall product direction
• Drive holistic DFM to create elegant designs with a focus on piece part and process count reductions, error-proofing at every step of fabrication and integration, and consistent performance and production metrics
• Establish an efficient product lifecycle starting in the supply chain through final integration that balances cost, complexity, and quality; work closely with partner teams to design and realize an efficient in-house production line
• Perform environmental and performance testing on hardware to validate analysis and demonstrate compliance with design criteria
• Own product delivery timeline through conception, design, assembly, and launch
• Demonstrate extreme ownership of product outcomes at every stage of development and production

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering or STEM discipline
• 1 years of experience with CAD or FEA software packages (can be in a professional, academic, entrepreneurial, or hobby setting)
• 1+ years of experience with mechanical and/or electromechanical design and analysis (internship and extracurricular experience are applicable)

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master's degree in engineering or a related technical discipline
• Ability and willingness to obtain a Top Secret clearance
• 1+ years of experience in technical project management and/or systems engineering
• Experience managing ambiguous multidisciplinary projects (RF, electrical, mechanical, software)
• Solid understanding and application of GD&T
• Demonstrated ability to own hardware or systems within an integrated engineering team outside a classroom setting (FSAE, Engineers without Borders, Student Directed Research, Design-Build-Fly, NASA student launch, personal entrepreneurial ventures, etc.)
• Demonstrated understanding of structural analysis and failure modes of complex mechanical and/or electromechanical systems
• Self-motivated with strong organizational, written, and oral communication skills
• Proficient in 3D CAD (NX preferred)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to work long hours and weekends as necessary to meet mission-critical deadlines
• Willing to travel at least 10% of the time, to vendors, customers, or domestic/international ground sites.
• An active clearance may provide the opportunity for you to work on sensitive SpaceX missions; if so, you will be subject to pre-employment drug and random drug and alcohol testing

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay range:
Mechanical Engineer/Level I: $95,000.00 - $115,000.00/per year
Mechanical Engineer/Level II: $110,000.00 - $130,000.00/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 skill