ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE As an end-to-end space transportation company, Firefly Aerospace is on a mission to enable our world to launch, land, and operate in space - anywhere, anytime. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space. SUMMARY The Welding Engineer is responsible for maintaining good welding practices across Firefly's programs, including, but not limited to launch vehicles, spacecraft, and ground systems. A strong team-oriented attitude, professional communication skills, passion for the work and a results-driven are critical to creating and maintaining Firefly's standard for top notch quality. This position integrates with many departments across the company, including Ground Support Equipment, Fluids systems, Structural systems, Test operations, and Launch operations. The breadth of support requires a self-driven individual that will internalize the intent of the position and fill gaps as the team continues to grow and evolve. This engineer must identify opportunities for improvement, review solutions with relevant stakeholders, and take action to drive any improvements to completion without direct pressure or supervision. This role is located at our manufacturing and test site in Briggs, TX, north of Cedar Park.RESPONSIBILITIES
- This position will support the production of Firefly's launch vehicles, spacecraft, and ground systems alongside a strong design-and-build engineering groups at multiple work sites
- The welding engineer will help develop, qualify and refine welding designs for vehicles and ground systems. • The welding engineer will interface directly with individual welders, the weld shop manager, Materials & Processes, Quality, Program, and design engineers to develop standard practices for creating reliable & repeatable welds. • Develop, qualify, and refine weld processes and parameters for multiple welding processes, including but not limited to GTAW, GMAW, resistance, plasma arc, electron beam, and laser beam
- Support production operations on full-scale welded assemblies, providing direction to manufacturing engineers and welders on correct techniques in a fast-paced manufacturing environment
- Support design, manufacturing, and materials engineering with root cause analysis
- Work closely with design, tooling, automation, and development engineers to improve welded designs for manufacturing • Set up welder certification test campaigns and interpret mechanical testing and NDE results
- Work closely with NDT personnel to interpret weld quality on development and flight hardware in addition to developing and implementing innovative state-of-the-art NDE techniques
- Develop and implement improved process control where possible using test and NDE results as a feedback loop
QUALIFICATIONSRequired
- Bachelor's degree in a relevant engineering discipline
- Ability to perform job duties that require standing, kneeling, crouching, twisting upper body, working in cramped positions in small openings, and climbing hand over hand
- Ability to multi-task and communicate with a broad spectrum of internal and external customers
- 5+ years of experience with hands-on fabrication, manufacturing, or testing experience of welded assemblies
- Experience writing PQRs, test plans, test procedures, and inspection criteria
- Experience inspecting welds and providing constructive feedback to welding team
- Experience working with the welding of aluminum, stainless steel, nickel alloys, and high strength steels
- Experience with welding processes including, but not limited to GTAW, GMAW, resistance, plasma arc, electron beam, and laser beam
- Experience using tooling, jigs, or part design to improve producibility
- Familiarity with D17.1, B31.3, AFSPCMAN 91-710, and other applicable Aerospace welding codes
- Familiarity with NDT techniques, including, but not limited to VT, Dye Penetrant Testing, Ultrasonic, & Radiography
- To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S
Desired
- 7+ years of experience with hands-on fabrication, manufacturing, or testing experience of welded assemblies
- Familiarity with AFSPCMAN 91-710 and other Launch Site specific Aerospace codes & guidelines
- Ability to communicate at all levels of an organization (technical to programmatic, technician to executive leadership)
Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options. To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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. Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on 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.