Materials Engineer

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.

MATERIALS ENGINEER, POLYMERS (DRAGON)

As an engineer within the Materials Engineering department, you will use your knowledge, experience, and creativity to solve difficult material and process challenges to enable highly reliable, low-cost, and continuous access to space, and to ensure safe spaceflight of crew and critical cargo.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own multi-flight qualification and certification of polymeric and elastomeric materials used on Dragon. These materials include structural and non-structural plastics and adhesives, coatings, elastomeric seals, thermal protection systems (TPS), textiles, and composites.
• Provide guidance to engineering and production teams on materials selection, testing and analysis of non-metallic materials
• Lead root cause investigations and failure analysis as a subject matter expert in nonmetallic materials
• Develop innovative material solutions that increase performance life, improve reliability, and reduce refurbishment processing
• Guide design changes through ownership of material specifications, requirements, property allowable generation, drawing reviews, and manufacturability assessments
• Own external customer communication and deliverables regarding certification and launch readiness, alongside coordinating technical discussions with multidisciplinary teams
• Interface with suppliers on technical issues, including material non-conformances and root cause investigations

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering, polymer science, chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, or a STEM field
• 1+ years of hands-on experience in materials characterization, manufacturing, and/or materials development (internship or project experience accepted)

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree or PhD in materials science and engineering, polymer science, chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, or a STEM field
• Hands-on experience developing, processing, testing, and qualifying aerospace polymeric and elastomeric materials, including silicones, structural adhesives, sealants, plastics, textiles, composites, and thermal protection materials
• Experience in polymer characterization methods and laboratory techniques, including SEM-EDS, FTIR, DSC, TGA, LFA, DMA, TMA, rheometry, optical microscopy, and mechanical property testing