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.

DRONESHIP RECOVERY ENGINEER, AUTOMATION & CONTROLS

As a recovery engineer focused on droneship operations, you will be responsible for the mission readiness and success of the SpaceX landing zones and droneship fleet. In this role, you will work with the team supporting offshore operations to troubleshoot, plan repairs, and verify mission readiness of all stage 1 recovery ground support equipment. You will be responsible for developing equipment upgrades, new concepts of operations for vehicle recovery and processing, writing test plans and procedures to improve recovery efficiency, and support the recovery team to meet a blistering launch cadence. As a responsible engineer, you will take extreme ownership over critical ground support equipment and droneship systems to successfully recover and safe landed Falcon 9 boosters.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Troubleshoot and repair droneship and support boat systems in a timely manner to ensure mission readiness and meet the demands of a rapid launch cadence
  • Design and integrate hardware improvements to attain completely autonomous droneship recovery mission capability, requiring no personnel to board the vessel at any point
  • Work to improve droneship reliability and recycle efficiency to reliably meet a 3-day recycle window. This includes automating readiness checkouts, and developing and implementing design improvements
  • Provide on-mission support in troubleshooting equipment at sea when necessary
  • Provide offshore engineering support when necessary, including spending a week or more at sea
  • Gap fill resource shortages on other recovery operations which could include fairing or Dragon recovery

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, or physics
  • 2+ years of experience building, maintaining, modifying, and/or operating automation and controls systems

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • 2+ years of hands-on experience building, maintaining, modifying, and operating high-quality electrical control panels and electromechanical systems
  • Professional experience with industrial control systems (PLCs, motor drives)
  • Professional experience with PLC programming
  • Professional experience in writing test plans and test procedures
  • Professional experience with complex, multi-disciplinary system assemblies
  • Professional experience with creating and reading electrical schematics
  • Professional experience with data acquisition and control systems
  • Professional experience with instrumentation, sensors, and actuators
  • Professional experience with industrial networking and protocols
  • Professional experience planning, executing, and improving operations involving more than 10 personnel

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

  • Must be willing to work weekends and night shifts as needed
  • Must be willing to travel to other launch sites in support of operational activities and launches; travel requirement is up to 15%
  • Must pass Air Force background checks for Cape Canaveral
  • Lifting, standing, climbing, bending, grasping, sitting, pulling, pushing, stooping, stretching, and carrying are generally required to perform the functions of this position

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:
Pay range:
Recovery Engineer/Level I: $95,000.00 - $115,000.00/per year
Recovery Engineer/Level II: $110,000.00 - $130,000.00/per year

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation & will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year.

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

  • To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be 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.

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