SpaceX
Supplier Development Engineer, Materials & Metals (Starship)
About this role
SpaceX seeks a Supplier Development Engineer for Starship to manage materials and metals supply chain quality and scalability. You'll serve as the technical owner for raw materials, welding, heat treatment, and finishing processes across suppliers, driving from development through production while solving critical quality and manufacturing challenges.
What you'll do
- Act as technical point of contact for materials commodities and processes including raw materials, welding, heat treatment, and finishing
- Own development of raw-material commodities by selecting manufacturing methods, vetting suppliers, and building scalable processes
- Solve emergent supplier issues threatening production schedules, including materials, processing, and quality problems
- Lead containment and root-cause analysis on materials and process escapes, coordinating fixes across suppliers and SpaceX
- Review supplier manufacturing processes and quality systems; drive improvements and follow-through
- Partner with procurement and engineering to improve requirements, reduce defects, and optimize lead time and cost
What they're looking for
- Materials science and metallurgy fundamentals
- Manufacturing and special processes engineering (castings, forgings, sheet metal, welding, heat treatment)
- Supplier quality assessment and supplier quality processes (PPAP, APQP)
- Problem-solving methodologies (8D, root cause analysis, corrective action, PFMEA)
- Quality systems (ISO 9000, AS9100)
- Statistical methods and lean concepts
- Cross-functional communication and influence
- Shop floor judgment and technical decision-making
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SpaceX
SpaceX develops advanced spacecraft and satellite systems, including the Starshield government satellite constellation and Starfall re-entry cargo capsule for global delivery. The company is hiring engineers in avionics integration, software test automation, mechanical design, and hardware reliability to validate flight-critical systems and ensure mission success.
- Website
- spacex.com
Likely interview questions
- Describe your experience transitioning a new material or process from development to stable production at rate.
- Walk us through how you've diagnosed and resolved a critical supplier quality issue that threatened a production schedule.