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 (STARSHIP)
Our Starbase team is working on the toughest and most audacious project on our planet: making humanity multiplanetary. Our team is building high performance flight hardware, a high-volume rocket production line, and a launch system that can rapidly and reliably launch and land our rockets. Our mechanical engineers are responsible for designing, analyzing, and building all of the hardware across the Starship and Super Heavy vehicles. Expect a dynamic role doing what you’re best at. Whatever your skill set, you’ll be aligned to the part of the program you’re most effectively able to contribute to (design, analysis, test, structures, fluids, manufacturing, tooling, machine design, etc.). If you are a high performing engineer, want to immerse yourself in never-before-solved challenges, and are excited to put in the effort to make this goal a reality, we want to hear from you.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Own the design and development of next generation launch vehicles, launch pad and production lines
- Transform system requirements into hardware concepts and trade implementation and architecture options
- Perform hand calculations and FEA to develop, assess, and optimize designs
- Rapidly iterate on manufacturing processes and development testing in a fast-paced environment
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to ensure hardware integrates with all Starship systems and supports necessary mission operations
- Participate in design reviews internally and with suppliers and customers
- Partner with engineering and production teams to generate ideas, designs, and improvements for current and next-generation vehicles
- Own large business outcomes
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline or physics
- 1+ years of mechanical or fluids design, analysis, or build experience (internship and school projects experience qualify)
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Master's or PhD in an engineering or physics discipline
- Strong ability to use data and analysis to make fast data-driven decisions
- Ability to perform trade studies and make clear recommendations using first principles and engineering fundamentals even with partial information. Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals
- Experience working at a nimble engineering organization or in a highly technical position that required a scrappy, entrepreneurial manner to accomplish tasks with tight time or budget constraints
- Excelled in ultra-competitive environments. You’ve nailed a podium finish in engineering, math, or science competitions, achieved scores in the top percentile of scholastic or standardized tests, or demonstrated other incredible feats of intellectual achievement
- Experience building hardware or have a passion for contributing to a work product that operates in the real world
- Succeeded in multiple endeavors at once; maybe you worked through college, were a student athlete, or demonstrated strong work or academic performance in multiple fields
- Demonstrated rapid growth, you’ve held successive positions of increasing responsibility within an organization, were able to get yourself up to speed at a heroic pace, and accomplished something meaningfully difficult early in your career
- Demonstrated resilience and the ability to overcome failure or extreme odds. Many critics would say that our goals are impossible but this isn’t the first time we’ve proven that highly improbable goals like reusable rockets can become possible
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Extended hours and weekend work may be required 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 discipline or physics
- 1+ years of mechanical or fluids design, analysis, or build experience (internship and school projects qualify)
- Willingness to work extended hours and weekends to support critical project and mission milestones
- ITAR eligibility: must be U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations
- Master's or PhD in an engineering or physics discipline
- Strong ability to use data and analysis to make fast data-driven decisions
- Ability to perform trade studies and make clear recommendations using first principles and engineering fundamentals
- Experience working in nimble engineering organizations or highly technical, scrappy environments
- Proven high achievement in competitive engineering, math, or science environments
- Experience building hardware or strong passion for real-world hardware products
- Demonstrated rapid growth and successive increases in responsibility
- Demonstrated resilience and ability to overcome failure or extreme odds
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.




