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Job Description

Overview

SpaceX is developing technologies to enable human life on Mars, and the Development Test Technician role focuses on supporting testing of the latest vehicle and spacecraft designs through fabrication and assembly operations.

Responsibilities

  • Fabricate metallic piece parts to print using machine shop equipment.
  • Assemble test equipment to print, including on-assembly fabrication operations.
  • Assemble large mechanical assemblies that require strategic part manipulation and heavy lift operations.
  • Fabricate and assemble high-pressure pneumatic and hydraulic fluid systems.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or equivalency certificate.
  • 5+ years of experience in mechanical fabrication.
  • Able to read mechanical and engineering drawings and interpret tolerances.
  • Skilled with mechanical hand tools.
  • Knowledge/experience with fluid connections and cryogenic systems.
  • Experience lifting, rigging, and preparing for heavy crane operations.

Benefits

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

Additional Information

  • Able to work at elevated heights occasionally.
  • Physical effort including standing, lifting, and carrying equipment up to 30 lbs. unassisted.
  • Able to work in outdoor environments as needed.
  • Ability to work all required shift hours, including overtime and weekends when needed.
  • Willing to travel for short trips as needed, up to 10% travel.

Benefits

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

Pay in context

At roughly $44/hr, this posting sits about 40% above the $31/hr median for welding jobs in Hawthorne, CA — toward the top of a $31–$58/hr middle band drawn from 39 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 59% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. Pay that far above local median usually comes attached to something: a harder cert requirement, travel, night shift, or overtime that isn't really optional. Worth establishing which before you accept.

The local market in Hawthorne, CA

We're tracking 44 other active welding openings in Hawthorne, CA right now, from 6 different employers. 16 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 600 other active welding openings from 271 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 36 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 (36), Vast (18), and Relativity Space (17). 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 Gardena at $73/hr, Redondo Beach at $72/hr, and Pasadena at $61/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. Development Test Technician (Starship Mechanisms) - Level 4/5 figures were last recalculated when this page was built.