Senior Tooling Design Engineer, Investment Casting

SENIOR TOOLING DESIGN ENGINEER, INVESTMENT CASTING 

SpaceX is seeking a Sr. Tooling Design Engineer to own the design and development of wax injection molds and ceramic core injection molds used to produce turbine blades and vanes. This role is critical to scaling reliable, high-performance cast components. You will design complex tooling that must repeatedly deliver extremely tight tolerances and intricate internal cooling geometries while supporting aggressive rate and cost targets. 

As a member of the materials team, you will work closely with materials, casting, and manufacturing engineers to develop tooling solutions from concept through production qualification. Your designs will directly impact casting yield, dimensional stability, and the overall manufacturability of mission-critical hardware. 

RESPONSIBILITIES:  

• Design high-precision wax injection molds and ceramic core injection molds for complex turbine blades and vanes 
• Interpret and enable mold filling simulations and apply first-principles analysis to optimize gating, venting, cooling, and shrinkage compensation 
• Account for multi-stage shrinkage (wax, ceramic, and alloy) to consistently meet stringent dimensional and metallurgical requirements 
• Own tooling designs from concept through tryout, qualification, and production release 
• Collaborate closely casting engineers, materials scientists, and vendors to troubleshoot tooling-related casting defects and improve yield 
• Apply advanced GD&T and tolerance stack-up analysis to complex airfoil geometries 
• Support design for manufacturability (DFM) initiatives to enable high-rate production while maintaining quality and cost targets 
• Interface with internal manufacturing teams and external tooling vendors to ensure designs are successfully translated into reliable production tooling 
• Drive continuous improvement of tooling standards, materials, and maintenance practices for high-volume casting operations 

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, or an engineering discipline 
• 5+ years of professional experience designing high-precision injection molds for wax patterns or ceramics 

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: 

• Demonstrated success taking complex tooling from design through production qualification 
• Direct experience designing molds used in the production of turbine blades and vanes 
• Experience with Siemens NX 
• Experience with injection molding simulation software 
• In-depth knowledge of wax and ceramic material behavior, rheology, and processing 
• Deep understanding of the investment casting process and associated shrinkage/ distortion mechanisms 
• Experience working in a fast-paced, high-mix manufacturing environment 
• Hands-on experience supporting mold tryouts and casting process development 
• Experience with manufacturing tooling, including CNC and mold making 

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: 

• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends when required to support hardware delivery and production campaigns 
• Must be willing to travel (up to 25%) to external suppliers and other SpaceX facilities