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.
LEAD MECHANICAL ENGINEER (STARSHIP)
The Starship Avionics Mechanical team is responsible for producing an avionics system minimizing vehicle cost/mass and providing electrical sensing, actuation, and control for flying the vehicle. Avionics includes RF communication, navigation sensors, electrical actuators, video systems, propulsion sensors, and energy storage. This role leads a team of mechanical engineers, and it is within a larger avionics team of electrical engineers designing electrical system and vehicle operations. This role will partner closely with adjacent Starship engineering and production teams to continuously improve the design and manufacturability of avionics hardware for current and next-generation vehicles. Team mission is to develop highly producible mechanical designs and packaging solutions that protect electronics from the harsh mechanical and thermal environments of launch vehicle operations.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Extreme ownership of avionics engineers to enable the rapid progress of design, integration, test, and launch activities
- Drive conceptual design, architecture trades, and first order sizing
- Develop design requirements where definition is lacking
- Optimize the development speed, mass, and cost on our avionics
- Perform in depth first principles analysis and FEA to assess and optimize designs
- Incorporate design for manufacturing principles, drive first article builds, and make improvements necessary to hand off subsequent builds to production
- Support production issues and drive design, process, and procedure improvements for maximum production efficiency and rate after first article build
- Design and execute development, acceptance, and qualification testing
- Drive delivery timeline through conception, design, parts, assembly and integration, and launch
- Work closely with analysts to develop thermal, vibration, and loading requirements and with manufacturing engineers to optimize designs for rapid manufacturability
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in an engineering, science, or math discipline
- 3+ years of professional experience designing mechanical components or assemblies
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- 1+ years of experience leading teams, either formally or as part of a team project
- Creative problem solving that can bring multiple disciplines together with the ability to assess risk and make design and development decisions without all available data
- Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere
- Self-motivated with strong multi-tasking, organizational, communication and documentation skills
- Strong sense of accountability and integrity
- Solid understanding and application of GD&T
- Proficient and frequent use of hand calculations, finite element analyses (FEA), and computer-aided designs (CAD)
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- This position is based in Starbase, TX and requires being onsite - remote work not considered
- Must be able to work extended hours and weekends to support critical project and mission milestones
ITAR REQUIREMENTS:
- To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
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 reach out to [email protected].
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in an engineering, science, or math discipline
- 3+ years professional experience designing mechanical components or assemblies
- Position based in Starbase, TX and requires being onsite (remote not considered)
- Must be able to work extended hours and weekends to support critical project and mission milestones
- ITAR eligibility: U.S. citizen/national, lawful permanent resident, refugee/asylee, or eligible for required State Department authorizations
- 1+ years of experience leading teams (formal or as part of a project)
- Proficient and frequent use of hand calculations, finite element analyses (FEA), and computer-aided designs (CAD)
- Solid understanding and application of GD&T
- Creative problem solving, strong communication, documentation, and multi-tasking skills; self-motivated
SpaceX Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about SpaceX and has not been reviewed or approved by SpaceX.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity grants are a core part of total compensation, with periodic company-run tender offers that create liquidity before any public listing. These mechanisms can make the equity component feel materially valuable in practice.
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Healthcare Strength — The package includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with on-site clinics and health resources at major sites. This breadth of coverage is presented as a strong element of the offering.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Major locations feature on-site amenities such as fitness facilities, food/coffee, clinics, and other conveniences. These lifestyle perks enhance day-to-day value alongside cash and equity.
SpaceX Insights
What We Do
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space transportation, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary. SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones. It is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in December 2010. The company made history again in May 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, exchanged cargo payloads, and returned safely to Earth — a technically challenging feat previously accomplished only by governments. Since then Dragon has delivered cargo to and from the space station multiple times, providing regular cargo resupply missions for NASA.
