Sr. Welding Engineer
SpaceX · Hawthorne, CA · 1 wk ago
On-siteEngineering$135k–$190k/yrFull-time
Responsibilities
- Develop, optimize, and qualify weld processes and parameters for multiple welding processes including but not limited to: electron beam welding, laser beam welding, gas tungsten arc welding, orbital tube welding, resistance welding, gas metal arc welding, friction stir welding, and plasma arc welding
- Support production operations on full scale welded assemblies, providing direction to manufacturing engineers and welders on correct techniques in a fast paced manufacturing environment
- Support design, manufacturing, and materials engineering with root cause analysis
- Work closely with design, tooling, automation, and development engineers to improve welded designs for manufacturing
- Set up welding qualification test campaigns and interpret mechanical testing and NDE results
- Work closely with NDE personnel to interpret weld quality on development and flight hardware in addition to developing and implementing innovative state-of-the-art NDE techniques
- Develop and implement improved process control where possible using test and NDE results as feedback loop
- Set up automated welding solutions in an effort to drive process consistency
- Scope out new welding technologies that may be employed to improve rate/quality/efficiency
- Support on-site manufacturing and development of Starlink, F9, Dragon, Starship, and related propulsion engines
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline
- 5+ years of experience with hands-on fabrication, manufacturing, or testing experience of welded assemblies
- Master’s degree in welding engineering or related technical program
- Hands on welding experience of stainless steel, nickel-based, titanium, copper, and aluminum alloys
- Fundamental understanding of welding processes including, but not limited to, electron beam, laser beam, plasma arc, resistance, friction-stir, gas tungsten arc, and gas metal arc
- Robot programming experience for automated welding solutions
- Tooling design experience for welded assemblies to reduce part distortion and improve part consistency
- Understanding of weld strength testing methodologies, standards, and data acquisition systems used to make informed welding decisions (ASTM E8, E399, E740, ISO 15653, AWS D17.X, AWS C7.X, thermos-couples, strain gages, etc.)
- Experience with root cause analysis and corrective actions including, but not limited to, optical and SEM fractography/metallography, hardness, chemical analysis, and mechanical testing
- Self-motivated engineer with keen attention to detail
- Strong ability to multi-task and communicate status and results with broad spectrum of internal and external departments