Sr. Structural Engineer
Job description
About the role
Join the critical infrastructure team at SpaceX to help design, build, and maintain advanced manufacturing facilities. This role offers significant autonomy to tackle complex engineering challenges across multiple projects. You will contribute to infrastructure essential for launching the world's largest rockets.
Key facts
What you'll do
- Guide multi-disciplinary and third-party engineers through the entire engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning lifecycle.
- Conduct civil and structural design and analysis for steel and concrete structures.
- Produce drawings, design documents, calculations, and reports for aerospace, industrial, and commercial projects.
- Draft, negotiate, and manage construction contracts with various subcontractors until close-out.
- Oversee the civil and structural elements of construction projects.
- Collaborate with contractors, fabricators, owners, and clients.
- Perform direct on-site engineering inspections and field observations.
- Resolve design and construction issues in the field in real time.
- Provide technical engineering support to ensure construction and maintenance adhere to standards, codes, and specifications.
As a senior structural engineer within critical infrastructure, you will carry projects from concept to completion. That means guiding multi-disciplinary and third-party engineers through the full engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning lifecycle, and taking responsibility for the civil and structural design and analysis of steel and concrete structures. You will produce drawings, design documents, calculations, and reports for aerospace, industrial, and commercial projects, and you will draft, negotiate, and manage construction contracts with subcontractors through close-out.
The role is heavily hands-on and field-oriented. You will oversee the civil and structural elements of construction projects, collaborate with contractors, fabricators, owners, and clients, and perform direct on-site engineering inspections and field observations. Because issues inevitably come up during construction, you will be expected to resolve design and construction issues in the field in real time, and to provide technical engineering support so that construction and maintenance stay in line with standards, codes, and specifications. Managing the full construction lifecycle in this way means being comfortable shifting between design work at a desk, contract discussions with subcontractors, and boots-on-the-ground inspections at active construction sites.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in civil engineering, structural engineering, or another engineering discipline.
- 5+ years of professional experience focused on designing or building structural infrastructure.
- Professional Engineering (PE) license.
Nice to have
- Familiarity with AISC steel manual, ACI 318, ASCE 7, and IBC codes.
- Experience with AutoCAD or Revit.
- Experience with SAP 2000, STAAD Pro, RISA-3D, or Etabs.
- Understanding of permitting processes with building and environmental agencies.
- Knowledge of other disciplines like mechanical, electrical, piping, geotechnical, and surveying.
- Experience managing major construction projects, including estimating, cost control, scheduling, and contractor oversight.
- Experience with project phases: conceptual layout, detailed design, RFP/RFQ, contract issuance, construction supervision, punch lists, and certificate of occupancy.
- Strong communication abilities.
Skills & tools
AutoCAD, Revit, SAP 2000, STAAD Pro, RISA-3D, Etabs.
Practical notes
This is an on-site position requiring relocation if not local to Hawthorne, CA. Occasional extended hours and weekend work may be necessary. The role requires physical ability to stand, crawl, stoop, and lift up to 30 lbs. unassisted, and to operate forklifts, scissor lifts, and boom lifts. Compensation includes base salary, potential long-term incentives (stock, options, cash awards), discretionary bonuses, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Benefits include comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, 401(k), disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, 3 weeks of paid vacation, and 10+ paid holidays. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee to comply with ITAR regulations.
About the company
Based in Starbase, Texas, a company pursues work in spaceflight, telecom, and artificial intelligence. A unit handles rocket launches, leading yearly orbital counts beyond other national and commercial teams. Another unit runs Starlink, a satellite communications firm. A third area, through SpaceXAI, advances Grok and AI integration with X, while managing data center operations. Roles often cross these paths. Candidates with engineering, software, or operations backgrounds may find chances to join projects that span launch, connectivity, and machine learning efforts in this Texas-based enterprise.