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Job Description

Overview

Quantum Space is redefining mobility and maneuverability in space with high-mobility spacecraft platforms. They are seeking a Technician III – Friction Stir Welding to fabricate novel spacecraft propellant tanks, focusing on execution, troubleshooting, and hardware fabrication.

Responsibilities

  • Work with engineers to develop friction stir welding processes for novel spacecraft propellant tanks
  • Provide manufacturing feedback to engineers to improve weld quality, repeatability, and production efficiency
  • Support engineers in the development and refinement of friction stir welding processes for spacecraft propellant tanks
  • Perform and own friction stir welding operations on development and flight spacecraft propellant tanks
  • Assist in pressure and leak testing of spacecraft propellant tanks
  • Assist in the integration of spacecraft propellant tanks into spacecraft propulsion systems

Requirements

  • High school diploma or GED
  • 7+ years of relevant experience with friction stir welding, or CNC operation and welding experience
  • Demonstrated ability to lead small teams of technicians to accomplish tasks
  • Demonstrated ability to improve processes
  • Demonstrated ability to write standard operating procedures or similar documentation
  • Demonstrated ability to own completion of tasks with minimal oversight
  • Demonstrated ability to independently troubleshoot
  • Demonstrated ability to understand drawings and CAD models

Benefits

  • 401k
  • Health Insurance
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • PTO

Additional Information

  • Location: Rockville, MD or Hawthorne, CA
  • Hourly range: $24 - 48/hr
  • To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or eligible to obtain required authorizations.

Benefits

401k
Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
PTO
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How this job compares in Hawthorne, CA

Pay in context

At roughly $36/hr, this posting lands within a few percent of the $36/hr median for welding jobs in Hawthorne, CA, whose middle half runs $31–$60/hr across 24 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 46% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. In other words it is a market-rate offer, so benefits, overtime, and shift schedule are where the real difference between this and the next posting on the list shows up.

The local market in Hawthorne, CA

We're tracking 24 other active welding openings in Hawthorne, CA right now, from 4 different employers. None of them were added in the last week, so this is a slower-moving market. Across California as a whole we're tracking 399 other active welding openings from 208 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Hawthorne, or widen the search to California.

Quantum Space currently has 2 other openings live in California, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (20), Aerotek (17), and Volt (16). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within California, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Santa Ana at $48/hr, Los Angeles at $38/hr, and Hawthorne at $36/hr. Hawthorne is among them.

Similar openings near Hawthorne, CA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Friction Stir Weld Technician III figures were last recalculated when this page was built.