Sr. Welding Engineer

About the role

In this pivotal role, you will be instrumental in the manufacturing and development processes for key SpaceX projects, including Falcon 9, Starship, Dragon, and Starlink hardware. Your expertise will be essential in collaborating with both design and production teams to refine welding processes and ensure adherence to standardized procedures across various production lines.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Develop, qualify, and refine welding parameters for a variety of processes, such as electron beam, laser beam, gas tungsten arc, orbital tube, resistance, gas metal arc, friction stir, and plasma arc welding.
• Offer technical guidance to manufacturing engineers and welders to ensure production timelines are met efficiently.
• Conduct root cause analyses and assist in design enhancements for welded assemblies to improve overall quality.
• Create and execute qualification test campaigns while interpreting non-destructive evaluation (NDE) results and mechanical testing data.
• Introduce automated welding solutions to enhance process consistency and assess new technologies aimed at boosting operational efficiency.
• Work closely with NDE personnel to innovate inspection techniques tailored for both flight and developmental hardware.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to troubleshoot welding issues and implement corrective actions.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry standards and best practices in welding engineering to inform process improvements.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline is required.
• A minimum of 5 years of practical experience in the fabrication, manufacturing, or testing of welded assemblies is essential.
• Willingness to work extended hours, including weekends, to align with demanding build schedules.
• Physical ability to stand, kneel, crouch, twist, work in confined spaces, and climb as necessary.
• Candidates must meet ITAR requirements, which include being a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee.

Nice to have

• A master's degree in welding engineering or a related technical field is preferred.
• Experience with welding various materials such as stainless steel, nickel-based alloys, titanium, copper, and aluminum is advantageous.
• Proficiency in brazing, joining techniques, and metallographic interpretation is a plus.
• Skills in robot programming for automated welding processes would be beneficial.
• Familiarity with tooling design aimed at reducing part distortion is desirable.
• Knowledge of weld strength testing standards, including ASTM E8, E399, E740, ISO 15653, AWS D17.X, and AWS C7.X, is a significant advantage.
• Understanding of fractography, hardness testing, and chemical analysis techniques is a plus.

Skills & tools

• Proficient in various welding techniques, including electron beam, laser beam, plasma arc, resistance, friction stir, gas tungsten arc, and gas metal arc welding.
• Experienced with non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods and mechanical testing procedures.
• Familiar with data acquisition systems, including thermocouples and strain gauges, for monitoring welding processes.
• Knowledgeable in optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for metallographic analysis.

Practical notes

• This position may require travel to facilities located in Texas and Washington state, potentially up to 50% of the time.
• The compensation package includes opportunities for long-term incentives, stock options, discretionary bonuses, and participation in an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
• Comprehensive benefits are offered, including medical, vision, and dental coverage, a 401(k) plan, disability and life insurance, paid parental leave, three weeks of vacation, and more than ten paid holidays throughout the year.

At SpaceX, we are dedicated to revolutionizing space technology and making life multi-planetary. As a Sr. Welding Engineer, you will play a crucial role in this mission, contributing your skills and expertise to help us achieve groundbreaking advancements in aerospace engineering. Join us in our quest to push the boundaries of what is possible!

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.