NEW GRADUATE STARSHIP ENGINEER, MECHANICAL

Our elite Starbase team is working on the toughest and most audacious project on our planet: making humanity multiplanetary. 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. If you are a high performing engineer, 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.

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• 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. Whatever your skill set, you’ll be aligned to the part of the program you’re most effectively able to contribute to.
• Own the design and development of next generation launch vehicles, launch pad and production lines. 
• Perform hand calculations and FEA to develop, assess, and optimize designs.
• Rapidly iterate on manufacturing processes and development testing in a fast-paced environment.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to ensure hardware integrates with all Starship systems and supports necessary mission operations.
• Own large business outcomes and experience a rate of personal and professional growth that is unmatched literally anywhere else.
• Get a front row seat to witness an impossible idea manifest in real life. The next few years will be incredibly dynamic as we transition from the challenge of building hardware to actually flying reusable rockets to orbit.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline or physics.
• 1+ years of mechanical and/or fluids engineering experience via project team, research, internships, and/or professional experience.
• Graduating from a bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD program in December 2024 or May/June 2025.
• Applicant for this new graduate engineer position must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident (e.g., green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Strong ability to use data and analysis to make fast data-driven decisions.
• Ability to perform trade studies and make clear recommendations using first principles and engineering fundamentals even with partial information. Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals.
• Experience working at a nimble engineering organization or in a highly technical position that required a scrappy, entrepreneurial manner to accomplish tasks with tight time or budget constraints.
• Excelled in ultra-competitive environments. You’ve nailed a podium finish in engineering, math, or science competitions, achieved scores in the top percentile of scholastic or standardized tests, or demonstrated other incredible feats of intellectual achievement.
• Experience building hardware or have a passion for contributing to a work product that operates in the real world.
• Succeeded in multiple endeavors at once. Maybe you worked through college, were a student athlete, or demonstrated strong work or academic performance in multiple fields.
• Demonstrated rapid growth. You’ve held successive positions of increasing responsibility within an organization, were able to get yourself up to speed at a heroic pace, and accomplished something meaningfully difficult early in your career.
• Demonstrated resilience and the ability to overcome failure or extreme odds. Many critics would say that our goals are impossible but this isn’t the first time we’ve proven that highly improbable goals like reusable rockets can become possible.
• Success in academics at a rigorous and highly regarded university: minimum GPA 3.5/4.0 or higher, standardized test scores minimum 95th percentile, merit-based scholarship recipient. 

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary.
• Ability and willingness to relocate to our Starbase launch site (Brownsville, TX area). 

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay range:

Starship Engineer/Level I: $95,000.00 - $115,000.00/per year

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year.