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Job Description

Overview

SpaceX is actively developing technologies to enable human life on Mars. The Structures Technician (Machining) role involves modifying, repairing, assembling, and installing rocket and spacecraft components.

Responsibilities

  • Modify, repair, assemble, and install rocket and spacecraft components and subcomponents.
  • Use tooling holes, pilot holes, or by hand as required per drawing or tooling instructions.
  • Align parts and secure in place using clecos or tooling/hand clamps.
  • Install fasteners in correct sequence per drawing using correct tools.
  • Shim and/or trim parts as required.
  • Select drill bits, reamers, and/or countersinking tools for pilot and full-size holes.
  • Locate and drill pilot holes using drill motor and proper size drill bit(s).
  • Drill, ream, and countersink full-size holes in parts/assemblies in proper sequence.
  • Deburr panels per drawing using proper tools.
  • Set countersinking tools to proper depth as required.
  • Disassemble parts and deburr holes using chip chasers, deburring tools, and files.
  • Use solvents to clean surfaces prior to sealing or assembly.
  • Apply sealant, Alodine, primer, adhesives, and special finishes.
  • Load and unload ovens to bond detail parts to assemblies.
  • Determine and obtain correct type and size fasteners.
  • Cold work holes to prepare for close tolerance fastener installation.
  • Install bushings into housings using arbor press and/or hydraulic puller.
  • Apply liquid nitrogen to facilitate installation of bushings.
  • Check work after completion of each operation to ensure it is complete per drawing.
  • Self-check work after completion using QA instruments.
  • Handle and dispose of hazardous materials in an approved manner.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or equivalency certificate.
  • 1+ years of experience in hardware assembly, test, maintenance, material handling, and/or installation; OR certificate from an accredited trade skills program in A&P, manufacturing, and/or electronics.
  • 2+ years of professional structural assembly experience preferred.
  • A&P license preferred.
  • Experience drilling, reaming, honing and/or countersinking straight and close tolerance holes preferred.
  • Experience using various types of hand tools and/or hand-held power tools, floor-mounted power tools, and precision measuring tools.
  • Capable of visualizing a three-dimensional shape from a two-dimensional view.
  • Ability to perform basic arithmetic calculations accurately.
  • Experience making basic layouts on parts or assemblies.
  • Experience reading and interpreting engineering drawings, blueprints, and specifications.

Benefits

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

Additional Information

  • Must be willing to work all shifts, additional overtime, and weekends as needed.
  • 1st shift Monday - Friday: 5AM - 3:30PM.
  • 2nd shift Monday - Friday: 3:30PM - 2AM.
  • Repetitive assembly operations, grasping, standing, lifting, bending, pulling, pushing, stooping, stretching, and carrying are generally required.
  • Must be able to lift up to 25 lbs. unassisted.

Benefits

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

Pay in context

At roughly $31/hr, this posting comes in about 13% below the $35/hr median for welding jobs in Hawthorne, CA, where the middle half runs $31–$56/hr across 40 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 10% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. That gap is worth raising directly — in a market this size there is normally room to negotiate toward the median, particularly if you already hold the certifications the posting asks for.

The local market in Hawthorne, CA

We're tracking 40 other active welding openings in Hawthorne, CA right now, from 5 different employers. 15 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 596 other active welding openings from 294 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.

SpaceX currently has 33 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 (33), Aerotek (16), 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 Redondo Beach at $65/hr, Long Beach at $49/hr, and Santa Ana at $48/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

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. Structures Technician (Machining) figures were last recalculated when this page was built.