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Starship Engineer, FOD Control

SpaceX· Starship Engineering
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Starbase, TXFull-timePosted 2mo ago

About the role

Starship Engineer specializing in FOD Control responsible for preventing and eliminating Foreign Object Debris across Starship Production, developing and enforcing manufacturing and inspection processes to maximize quality at high production rate.

Responsibilities

  • Own FOD control strategy and execution for Starship Production; ensure facilities and processes comply with AS9146 and related aerospace/defense standards.
  • Partner with design engineering to apply Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and design-for-cleanliness principles—sealing machined areas, eliminating hidden cavities where debris can lodge, and enabling clean assembly line layouts—while influencing flight design and vehicle architecture.
  • Develop and enforce manufacturing, integration, assembly, welding, NDE, cleanliness, and checkout processes across work centers, including Clean-As-You-Go methodologies, tool accountability tracking, and hardware kitting protocols.
  • Design and implement precision tooling and poka-yoke systems for work access, build fixturing, lifting & rigging, fluids, and mechanical/avionics/propulsion testing to eliminate assembly error, prevent FOD introduction, improve quality, and minimize cycle time.
  • Develop, qualify, and automate manufacturing processes and in-situ inspection techniques to enable high-rate, repeatable production with higher yield and lower takt time.
  • Evaluate and integrate automated FOD detection systems, millimeter-wave radar, and specialized mechanical sweeping equipment into production and integration environments.
  • Define inspection requirements, author planning/test plans/work instructions, and create training for production and inspection—including FOD awareness—ensuring stable quality as volume scales.
  • Contain non-conforming hardware with quality, production, and design; conduct build quality and FOD audits to identify high-impact issues; drive corrective action and manage fleet risk.
  • Challenge and simplify requirements where design intent, cleanliness, and production rate conflict; manage transition of parts and assemblies from development to high-rate production with FOD controls built in.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, materials engineering, manufacturing engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, engineering physics, or other engineering discipline.
  • 1+ years in manufacturing, quality, process design, and/or design engineering (student project team or internship experience qualifies).

Skills

Required:FOD prevention/controlsDFM (Design for Manufacturability)Tooling design and poka-yoke
Nice to have:Inspection and NDE3D CADWelding/NDTAutomation/inspection techSQL/Power BI
Last updated Aug 12, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

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