Materials Lab Technician

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.

MATERIALS LAB TECHNICIAN  

As SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary, maintaining and increasing our launch capabilities and cadence at Cape Canaveral has become critical. We are looking for a highly motivated technician to join the Cape Canaveral materials engineering team in a laboratory-based role performing multi-disciplinary materials characterization testing. The successful candidate will be a key team member focused on daily lab operations to support material & process developments, failure investigations, process control validation, and qualifications. A basic understanding of materials science and laboratory practices is strongly preferred.  

RESPONSIBILITIES:  

• Develop operational proficiency of analytical instruments in the Cape Canaveral materials lab to support characterization testing of metallic and non-metallic materials  

• Perform sample preparation including sectioning, epoxy mounting, mechanical polishing, chemical etching, and machining as required for metallographic, mechanical, and analytical testing  

• Operate and maintain instrumentation including SEM/EDS, FTIR, DSC, TGA, and XRF  

• Maintain lab supplies, raw materials, solvents, and cleanliness/organization of the lab area  

• Summarize data and document results in an organized and thorough manner for engineering review, maintaining accurate records in accordance with quality and traceability requirements  

• Support material identification and qualification, failure investigations, and process control validation activities as needed  

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:  

• High school diploma or equivalency certificate  

• 1+ years of hands-on experience in a manufacturing or laboratory environment  

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:  

• Ability to learn and retain scientific concepts  

• Understanding of safe work practices in an environment with furnaces, saws, solvents, acids/bases, and mechanical testing equipment  

• Familiarity running thermal, chemical, and mechanical characterization equipment such as SEM/EDS, FTIR, DSC, TGA, XRF, XRD, ICP, salt fog chambers, hardness testers, and tensile testing equipment  

• Some college experience in chemistry, physics, engineering, or materials science  

• Experience setting up and running tests and experiments  

• Ability to maintain rigorous attention to detail when executing test instructions  

• Strong computer skills including experience with Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Ou