Power Plant Engineer
No salary listed
Mid
Bachelor's
Brownsville, TX, USA
In PersonFlexibility to travel to other SpaceX sites.
Mechanical EngineeringMechanical Maintenance and Reliability Engineering
About the job
Requirements
- A bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline is required.
- At least 2 years of hands-on experience with utility-scale gas turbines in commissioning, operations, or maintenance roles are required.
- Working knowledge of combined-cycle plant systems, including gas turbines, heat recovery steam generators, steam turbines, generators, and balance-of-plant equipment.
- Experience reading and interpreting P&IDs, single-line diagrams, and turbine control logic.
- Direct commissioning experience with GE 7/9HA, Siemens Energy SGT6/8-8000H, Mitsubishi M501/701JAC, or Doosan H-class turbines.
- Experience with distributed control system and turbine control platforms such as Mark VIe or SPPA-T3000, or equivalent.
- Familiarity with long-term service agreement structures, original equipment manufacturer contract negotiation, and outage scope development.
- Background in root-cause failure analysis methods, including RCA, 5-Why, or Fishbone, for rotating equipment.
- Experience with performance monitoring tools and heat balance modeling.
- Exposure to grid interconnection requirements, power purchase agreement performance obligations, or capacity market rules.
- Experience integrating power generation with co-located industrial or data center loads.
- Experience using SOLIDWORKS, Siemens NX, or similar computer-aided design software.
- Knowledge of engineering standards and best practices such as ASME B31.3, ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII, and AFSPCMAN 91-710.
- Must be willing to work extended hours and/or weekends as business needs require.
- Must be flexible to travel to other SpaceX sites.
- Must be able to perform the physical requirements of the job, including standing, kneeling, crouching, twisting the upper body, working in cramped positions and small openings, and climbing hand over hand.
- The role typically involves outdoor work in heat, cold, and rain. Physical activity may include standing up to 3 hours per day, sitting up to 6 hours per day, pushing or pulling up to 50 pounds unassisted for up to 15 minutes per day, overhead reaching up to 3 hours per day, walking up to 3 hours per day, lifting or carrying up to 25 pounds unassisted for up to 15 minutes per day, climbing ladders or stairs up to 1 hour per day, and working in temperatures over 80 degrees for up to 30 minutes per day.
- Must be capable of safely working at heights up to 500 feet and in confined spaces, using an air-purifying respirator, and performing the stated physical requirements. A pre-employment questionnaire and/or physical may be required to confirm these capabilities, including a medical history review.
- Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State to conform to U.S. Government export regulations.
Responsibilities
- Support the full lifecycle of gas turbine power generation assets, including installation, commissioning, startup, operations, and long-term maintenance.
- Lead or support commissioning activities, including combustion tuning, control system checkout, protective relay testing, and performance and reliability run verification.
- Own root-cause analysis and corrective action for turbine trips, forced outages, and performance degradation, and drive fixes that prevent recurrence.
- Develop and refine operating procedures, startup and shutdown sequences, and abnormal operating condition playbooks.
- Interface directly with original equipment manufacturers on warranty issues, long-term service agreement scope, outage planning, and technical issues.
- Plan and execute major and minor inspections, hot gas path outages, and combustion inspections in line with original equipment manufacturer maintenance intervals.
- Analyze turbine performance data, including heat rate, capacity factor, and degradation curves, to identify efficiency losses and recommend corrective action.
- Coordinate with balance-of-plant teams covering heat recovery steam generators, steam turbines, cooling systems, and water treatment to ensure integrated performance.
- Build and maintain relationships with engineering, procurement, and construction contractors during construction handoff to ensure a clean transition from construction to commercial operation.
- Develop spare parts strategy, critical spares inventory, and maintenance budgets.
Desired Qualifications
- A bias toward action and comfort making field decisions without waiting for a committee.
- Ability to work under pressure during startup, outages, or unplanned events, with urgency and ownership over outcomes.
About the company
SpaceX builds and launches reusable rockets and spacecraft for NASA, the military, and companies, and it runs Starlink, a satellite internet service for homes and businesses. In 2020, its Dragon capsule became the first privately built spacecraft to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. Its Falcon 9 rocket lands its first stage so the booster can fly again, which cuts launch costs, while Starlink beams internet from low-orbit satellites to small dishes for a monthly fee. SpaceX also owns xAI, maker of the Grok chatbot and owner of the social network X, and is building Starship, a fully reusable rocket meant to carry people to the Moon and Mars. Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, and it is based in Starbase, Texas.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Starbase, Texas
Founded
2002
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Starlink demand keeps compounding: subscribers doubled to 12 million in the year to June 2026.
- Room to grow: SpaceX listed 2,693 open roles in October 2026, over a third of them for Starlink.
- Rivals rent its AI supercomputers: Claude maker Anthropic agreed in May 2026 to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion a month.
What critics are saying
- Stock grants swing hard: shares closed between $108 and $211 in the four months after the June 2026 IPO.
- Expect long weeks: 1,724 of SpaceX's 2,693 job posts in October 2026 mention extended hours and weekend work.
- AI spending outruns sales: SpaceX put $15.8 billion into AI data centers in the June 2026 quarter, double its revenue.
What makes SpaceX unique
- SpaceX is the world's busiest launcher by far: its 165 orbital launches in 2025 were nearly double China's total.
- Starlink carries the profits: it earned $1.7 billion in the June 2026 quarter, while rockets and AI lost $1.8 billion.
- Elon Musk has the final say: super-voting shares give him about 82% of shareholder votes after the June 2026 IPO.
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- Benefits and Perks - Our employees' well-being is important to us and essential to our capacity to do extraordinary things. We offer a wide variety of programs to support the health, wellness, and financial security of our employees and their families.