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Materials Engineer, Polymer Development

SpaceX· Materials Engineering - Development Application
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Hawthorne, CA$100k - $160kFull-timePosted 2mo ago

About the role

Polymer Development Materials Engineer responsible for end-to-end development of advanced polymeric materials (adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, thermal protection materials, emulsions) for SpaceX hardware, including design criteria translation, formulation and process development, testing coordination, and production-scale implementation.

Responsibilities

  • Partner with engineers to define material requirements, translate design criteria into technical targets, and provide clear progress updates
  • Own technical decision-making throughout the development process, selecting and refining pathways that deliver materials meeting or exceeding design requirements
  • Investigate and resolve material failures or unexpected results, turning issues into actionable learnings that accelerate project progress
  • Act as a technical expert and project owner for polymeric material development efforts
  • Guide and mentor project specialists and technicians in executing formulation, testing, and process development work
  • Collaborate closely with engineering and production teams to ensure new materials are successfully integrated into production work centers
  • Lead the iterative development cycle by designing efficient experiments, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and defining the next set of actions
  • Drive materials development projects from initial concept through full qualification and production scale-up
  • Coordinate with materials laboratories to plan, prioritize, and interpret characterization and performance testing
  • Work with production and manufacturing teams to support process scale-up, improve manufacturability, and enable reliable high-volume production
  • Maintain thorough technical documentation of development decisions, test results, and qualification data

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Polymer Science, Materials Science and Engineering
  • 2+ years of professional experience in polymeric material formulation, chemical synthesis, polymer chemistry or a non-metallic materials engineering role

Skills

Required:Material development project managementPolymer formulation
Nice to have:Root cause analysisAnalytical characterization

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage
  • 401(k) retirement plan
  • short and long-term disability insurance
  • life insurance
  • paid parental leave
  • various discounts and perks
  • 3 weeks of paid vacation
  • 10 or more paid holidays per year
  • paid sick leave according to company policy
Last updated Aug 19, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About SpaceX

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