Design and Build Flight Hardware
As a mechanical engineer at SpaceX, you will be responsible for designing and building flight hardware such as propellant tanks, integration interfaces, primary structures, and structural subassemblies. This role requires the ability to make real-time decisions, solve complex problems on the fly, and own end-to-end processes.
In this position, you will work alongside a world-class production team to develop subject matter expertise in design for manufacturability, specifically those related to sheet metal and subassembly design and fabrication. Your tasks will include developing design concepts from a clean sheet, collaborating with peers from different vehicle systems, creating detailed designs, building finite element models, and validating your designs by building development articles to test individual joints and design elements for strength.
You will also partner with build engineers and technicians to improve your designs, support the assembly of your hardware in the factory, and witness your designs being brought to life daily.
Responsibilities:
* Develop design concepts from a clean sheet and size vehicle structures based on flight loads.
* Collaborate with peers from different vehicle systems to develop designs that balance mass, cost, and capability.
* Create detailed designs to implement structural concepts and generate CAD models in NX for components, assemblies, and vehicle integration.
* Build finite element models to assess your designs in detail and analyze your structures to prove they meet the needs of the vehicle.
* Apply first-order hand calculations and empirical formulas to assess and iterate on your designs rapidly.
* Validate your designs by building development articles to test individual joints and design elements for strength.
* Perform structural testing on subassemblies and full sections of the airframe.
* Partner with build engineers and technicians to improve your designs.
* Support the assembly of your hardware in the factory, witness your designs being brought to life daily, and watch them take flight and make history.