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.
- Analyze, design, and build systems that support critical rocket launches and testing
- Cradle-to-grave project ownership through hosting design reviews, project decision justification, equipment procurement, and coordination and assistance in the construction of your ideas
- Apply interdisciplinary engineering skills in fields of system-level process design and initial sizing, detailed pressurized fluid and thermal analysis, structural engineering, materials and component selection, and cost/schedule optimization
- Work directly with technicians and support groups to build your designs and fix real-world problems on the fly
- Maintain a tight feedback loop with operations and construction teams to rapidly alter plans as necessary to meet tight deadlines
- Activate, commission, and troubleshoot equipment to achieve design objectives and iterate system maintenance strategies to reduce future downtime
- Apply a hands-on approach to tackling daily field projects necessary to keep the company launching rockets
- Provide innovative solutions to problems under minimal supervision or direction
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other engineering discipline
- 5+ years of hands-on build or design experience
- Experience with quick-thinking and problem solving in time-critical situations
- Collaborative team player, enthusiastic, self-motivated, with a positive can-do attitude
- Acute attention to detail, ability to see interactions with other systems to avoid problems
- Creative and passionate approach to addressing opportunities and challenges while balancing cost and schedule
- Strong fundamental intuition of fluid and/or structural/mechanical systems
- Creativity to imagine and design for reliability, efficiency, and maintainability from scratch
- General hands-on experience; automotive, machining, welding, and other fabrication techniques is a plus
- Ability to work independently as well as part of a team, take initiative, and communicate effectively
- Ability to rapidly change roles/responsibilities while maintaining a high sense of urgency in a high-paced, challenging work environment
- Ability to verify designs with simplified hand calculations; experience in finite element analysis or computational fluid dynamics is a plus
- 3+ years of mechanical, fluids, or thermal design experience in an industrial setting or equivalent
- Experience with instrumentation, testing, data review and analysis, verification against an analytical model
- Experience with high pressure and cryogenic fluid systems and components and operations
- Experience producing drawings for fabrication
- Intermediate skill level using CAD (NX a plus)
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) piping and pressure vessel design experience
- Ability to respond to emergencies to support priority projects, missions, and launches
- Ability to work extended hours and weekends as needed; flexibility is required
- Ability to work in extreme outdoor environments when needed – heat, cold, wind, rain, etc.
- Ability to work in an environment requiring exposure to fumes, odors, and noise
- Working conditions may be in tight quarters and physical dexterity is required
- Ability to lift heavy objects up to 25 lbs. unassisted
- Ability to work on ladders, lifts, and at elevated heights (up to 300 feet) with proper personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Must be willing to travel to other SpaceX sites and vendors - up to 15%
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 mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, aerospace engineering, or another engineering discipline
- 5+ years of hands-on build or design experience
- 3+ years of mechanical, fluids, or thermal design experience in an industrial setting or equivalent
- Experience with high-pressure and cryogenic fluid systems, components, and operations
- Experience producing drawings for fabrication
- Intermediate CAD skills; NX experience is a plus
- ASME piping and pressure vessel design experience
- Experience with instrumentation, testing, data review, and analytical-model verification
- Ability to verify designs with simplified hand calculations
- Ability to respond to emergencies supporting priority projects, missions, and launches
- Ability to work extended hours and weekends as needed
- Ability to work in extreme outdoor environments and around fumes, odors, and noise
- Ability to work in tight quarters, on ladders, lifts, and at heights up to 300 feet with PPE
- Ability to lift up to 25 pounds unassisted
- Willingness to travel to other SpaceX sites and vendors up to 15%
- Must meet ITAR eligibility requirements or be eligible to obtain required U.S. government authorizations
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.
