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.

SR. SUPPLY CHAIN RELIABILITY ENGINEER, SPECIAL PROCESS

The supply chain team is responsible for the sourcing, planning, procurement, warehousing, and transportation of all raw materials and components needed to build our revolutionary spacecraft and launch vehicles. Our mission is to get the right part in the right place at the right time, every time.

The supply chain reliability engineering team is chartered with global quality surveillance of the supply base, reducing supply chain risk through external evaluations and internal risk reviews, leading failure investigations and proactively driving source qualification activities.

As a special process supply chain reliability engineer, you manage and lead cross functional risk activities to meet technical, production, and regulatory requirements at the point of qualification and throughout the supplier's lifecycle. You would be responsible for monitoring for known and unknown supplier flight risk and driving failure investigations to resolve issues immediately and effectively. As supplier surveillance activities deal with suppliers that support all areas of SpaceX, you would build an extensive network within materials and processing, build reliability, production, supply chain management, and a deep understanding of SpaceX systems and processes. This experience would enable you to become a critical voice in the development of group and company strategy.

To be successful, you will need:

  • A deep technical and practical knowledge of manufacturing processes and standards
  • The capability to manage projects and drive accountability within cross functional teams, succinctly communicate status and needed action, often urgently, to all levels of the organization
  • A willingness to roll up your sleeves and step into chaotic situations, using technical knowledge and quality background to understand the current state and most optimal path forward
  • The ability to analyze for and identify suboptimal supplier and internal system process gaps and drive improvement through data driven decisions
  • The ability to conduct formal and informal supplier evaluations, corrective actions, and process reviews
  • Ability to engage counterparts across the organization and develop/build trust in order to effectively execute large scale initiatives
  • An ability to acquire new technical knowledge, particularly around how purchased components and assemblies integrate into the rocket and spacecraft

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Act as the reliability engineering point of contact for all outsourced special processes, e.g., thin film coatings, thermal spray coatings, chemical processing, plating, thermal protection systems, etc. used on our vehicles and engines, solving emergent risks at suppliers and mitigating risk to the manifest by addressing high-impact quality challenges and escapes
  • Interface with production operations, inspection, shipping/receiving, and engineering teams to develop appropriate quality signals and processes to meeting overall program reliability goals
  • Drive changes that make the system more reliable, more manufacturable, and more efficient
  • Lead cross functional supplier quality failure investigations in production, test and flight, identifying and mitigating the immediate and underlying root causes in order to quantify/reduce risk and improve reliability of designs and processes
  • Coordinate failure resolution and follow-up actions to avoid further mishaps
  • Responsible for containment actions associated with non-conforming product, including identification of product location, coordination with Build Reliability Engineers of potential flight risk and the coordination of actions required to identify root cause analysis
  • Identify opportunities for risk reduction and removal of complexity in designs and processes to improve manufacturability, collaborating with integrated product teams to drive improvements and address high-impact and repeating non-conformances
  • Review acceptance and qualification of new capabilities at suppliers
  • Monitor supplier capabilities for unknown flight risk and work to resolve issues.
  • Assess changes in supplier processes and cross-functional impacts
  • Run ongoing reliability risk review activities, including performing data reviews and executing mitigation plans
  • Work with cross-functional teams to drive improved verification and changes for improved reliability

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor's degree in an engineering field
  • 5+ years of experience in an manufacturing environment
  • Experience in special processes such as thin film coatings, thermal spray coatings, chemical processing, plating, thermal protections systems or similar products/processes

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • Master’s degree in engineering or business
  • Broad familiarity with the environmental protection systems used on parts for rockets/rocket engines
  • Broad familiarity with the ancillary processes associated with the production of metallic parts, e.g., NDE, heat treatment, etc
  • Technical capabilities including knowledge of 2D blueprints and model drawings
  • Knowledge of supplier quality processes; Production Part Approval Process, Advanced Product Quality Planning, First Article Inspection Reports, etc. 
  • Knowledge of statistical techniques and methods like design of experiments, Six Sigma, etc.
  • Experience with Quality Systems (ISO 9000/TS/AS9100/NADCAP)
  • Disciplined approach to problem solving - 8D
  • Proficient in MS Office applications and report writing
  • Knowledge of lean concepts
  • Experience with sharing information and influencing others; strong written and verbal communication skills, able to liaise cross functionally, internally and externally, make presentations to team members and management
  • Experience with MRP or ERP systems

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: 

  • Must be able to work extended hours, some nights and/or weekends when needed
  • Must be able to travel - up to 25-50% work week travel may be required, including international travel
  • Valid driver's license

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

  • To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about 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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