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Job Description

Overview

SpaceX is actively developing technologies to enable human life on Mars, revolutionizing the launch industry through advanced technological developments and lean manufacturing. The Tooling Engineer for Starship Components will lead a team focused on advanced welding and joining processes for critical components of the Starship/Super Heavy.

Responsibilities

  • Design and manufacture welding fixtures for various welding processes.
  • Collaborate with design engineering to ensure tooling compatibility with assemblies.
  • Create detailed models and engineering prints in NX.
  • Perform hand calculations and analysis for sizing structures and mechanisms.
  • Create manufacturing planning for internal welding and toolmaking teams.
  • Scope equipment procurement for welding processes.
  • Create and evaluate asset maintenance schedules.
  • Support machine activation with the welding engineering team and perform development testing.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, manufacturing, or another engineering discipline.
  • 1+ years of experience in designing and building mechanical structures, GD&T, fabrication of mechanical assemblies, weldments, or CAD software design package.
  • Demonstrated ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced environment.
  • CNC and/or Robot programming experience for automated welding solutions.
  • Tooling design experience for welded assemblies.
  • Self-motivated engineer with keen attention to detail.
  • Hands-on experience in a high-production manufacturing environment.
  • Mechanical component and/or tooling design and analysis experience using 3D CAD software.
  • Experience with design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA).
  • Experience writing work instructions and procedures for critical components.
  • Expertise in tooling, automation, welding engineering, components design, and/or components manufacturing.
  • Experience in software development in SQL, Python or C#.

Benefits

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

Additional Information

  • Must be able to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
  • Must be able to travel for business needs – up to 25%.

Benefits

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

Pay in context

At roughly $63/hr, this posting sits about 102% above the $31/hr median for welding jobs in Hawthorne, CA — toward the top of a $31–$58/hr middle band drawn from 40 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 83% 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 40 other active welding openings in Hawthorne, CA right now, from 4 different employers. 19 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 565 other active welding openings from 259 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), Relativity Space (21), and Honeywell Aerospace (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 Long Beach at $49/hr, Santa Ana at $48/hr, and Los Angeles at $43/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. Tooling Engineer, Starship Components (Materials Engineering) figures were last recalculated when this page was built.