Starship Mechanical Engineer (Heatshield)

STARSHIP MECHANICAL ENGINEER (HEATSHIELD)

Our elite Starbase team is working on the toughest and most audacious project on our planet; making humanity multi-planetary. This challenge isn't for everyone - the working conditions can be hard on a desolate beach at the southernmost tip of the state - but hardcore projects require hardcore people. Our vehicles and launch infrastructure are pushing the limits on performance and require us to push the limits of materials. Our heatshield and associated hardware are critical to get to a highly reusable launch vehicle and in the future a reliable system to land our vehicles on Mars. If you are a high performer, 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.

As a team member you can expect a dynamic role doing what you're best at. 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. Your skills will help us iterate and build up to the most reliable and reusable heatshields for low Earth operations. You'll also help us develop the heatshield and production processes for the first high-production rate vehicle we'll use to colonize Mars.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop, test, and qualify new or refined thermal protection system solutions for our Starship architecture
• Own the outcome and setup the end-to-end solutions to thermal challenges from idea to flying hardware
• Work with production on resolving issues on the floor and on the vehicle with our flight hardware
• Analyze and troubleshoot post-flight conditions on vehicle heatshields to drive vehicle changes and improvements
• Coordinate with analysis, avionics, structures, supply chain, and reliability engineers to drive multidisciplinary projects
• Work with outside vendors, suppliers, and testing resources to bring in new materials, capabilities, or processes

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or other engineering discipline
• 1+ years of engineering experience in manufacturing or production (internship and school projects experience qualify)

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• 1+ years of experience working on thermal protection systems
• Strong fundamentals in aerothermal heating on reentry vehicles
• Strong fundamentals in the materials and mechanisms by which thermal protection systems operate
• Hands-on experience with hardware that has had to perform in challenging thermal environments such as rockets, reentry vehicles or other extreme temperature applications
• Ability to drive open-ended design and development challenges
• Familiarity and experience with production, installation, qualification and use of thermal protection system materials
• Experience using Siemens NX, or similar CAD software
• Ability to perform basic thermal or mechanical analysis

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary
• Ability to travel domestically
• Ability to pass Air Force background check for Cape Canaveral