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.

SR. ELECTRONIC MATERIALS ENGINEER (AVIONICS)

SpaceX continues to decrease launch costs with technologies such as reusable rockets, making space travel more accessible than ever before. The Materials Engineering team supports the company in the pursuit of this goal. In this role, you will support the Avionics team’s materials-related challenges. Avionics is a broad area that encompasses electronics, solar arrays, batteries, sensors, transducers and other types of space hardware.

Bring your technical excellence with a genuine desire to serve internal customers to be successful in this position. If this sounds exciting, we want to hear from you!

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide expertise to engineering staff as it relates to materials selection and integration
• Develop and qualify new materials and processes in the areas of printed circuit boards, solar arrays, batteries, transducers, and other space hardware
• Provide process engineering expertise to support manufacturing staff
• Provide reliability engineering expertise to predict and mitigate potential future failures
• Conduct failure analysis and implement corrective actions
• Conduct in-house characterization of materials and hardware, as well as work with external test houses
• Generate and execute test plans and review materials for compliance to standards
• Support drawing and specification reviews

 BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in materials engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, physics, electrical engineering, or other engineering discipline
• 3+ years of professional experience in materials engineering

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree or PhD in materials engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, physics, electrical engineering or other engineering discipline
• 6+ years of professional experience in materials engineering
• Track record of scoping and owning projects, and driving them to completion
• Genuine desire to serve internal customers
• Ability to earn the professional trust of others
• Thrive in a scrappy entrepreneurial environment
• Desire to mentor interns and less experienced engineers
• Have a sense of humor

The ideal candidate should be very strong in at least one of the following three areas and have some knowledge of the others:

1. Materials engineering and characterization related to the following areas:

• Printed circuit boards and electronic components
• Surface mount technology (solders and reflow, conformal coatings)
• Manufacture and assembly of printed circuit boards assemblies
• Solar arrays
• Batteries
• Sensors and transducers
• RF systems
• Characterization of material properties
• Microscopy, SEM, etc.
• Mechanical properties of materials (tensile, fatigue)
• Electrical and RF properties of materials

 2) Process engineering of electronics in a manufacturing setting

• Design of experiments
• Statistical process control
• Yield analysis

 3) Reliability engineering

• Mechanical, thermal, and environmental reliability testing of electronic systems and components
• Failure analysis methods to identify root cause of failure
• FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Occasional travel may be required

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

• To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR HERE.

 

SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should notify the Human Resources Department at (310) 363-6000.