The Boring Company Jobs: Elon Musk’s Digging Venture Announces 11 Openings
Ready to start digging?
by Mike BrownThe Boring Company is on the lookout for new talent. The company posted on Twitter Thursday that it’s looking for people in 11 positions, including engineers, project managers, safety experts and more, that will help bring the vision from simple test tunnel to reality. Several of the jobs are focused on perfecting the digging machines, which will play a big role in bringing costs down and separating the firm from the others.
It comes at a critical time for the company. Founder Elon Musk unveiled his vision last month of how The Boring Company plans to whisk people across cities at speeds of up to 150 mph, demonstrating a two-mile test tunnel built by the team. The plan is to allow electric autonomous cars through tunnels measuring 14 feet in diameter, with guide wheels to steady the vehicle as it whizzes under the ground. One of its first projects is a connection in Chicago between the airport and the downtown area, with the mayoral team aiming to clear the project with the city council before May.
It’s all part of Musk’s grander plan to alleviate traffic congestion in big cities, using multiple tunnels to add more capacity. The company states that its goal is to “increase tunneling speed and decrease costs by a factor of 10 or more with the ultimate goal of making Hyperloop adoption viable and enabling rapid transit across densely populated regions.”
Two years after Musk first started the company to reduce Los Angeles traffic, the jobs are bringing the company from the concept stage into the nitty-gritty. The firm is looking for people with experience of safety, with California PE certification, and people that can properly develop complex control systems for digging machines. The company claims it can produce a tunnel for $10 million per mile, far below industry averages, but it’s going to need a broad team of engineers to meet these goals, particularly as the workload expands from the initial test tunnel project.
Here’s what you could be doing if you apply to the Hawthorne, California-based firm:
Embedded Systems Engineer
Adept with C++ and Linux? You could be in charge of writing code to run the mining hardware. These tools are critical to The Boring Company’s goal of making tunneling more efficient, and you’ll need to design reliable systems that can operate in tough conditions.
Fluid Power Engineer
The successful candidate will be tasked with designing hydraulic, pneumatic, lube and water cooling systems to aid the machines. These will be important for ensuring that tunneling progresses smoothly and increases the amount of time each machine digs — which Musk claims currently runs for around 10 minutes per hour.
Mechanical Engineer — Design
This engineer will be designing systems for boring machine parts, support system equipment and other areas of responsibility. This will ensure the project is completed on time and relevant components are compliant with regulations.
Tesla Model X inside The Boring Company tunnel.
Power Systems Engineer
The power systems engineer will be implementing transformers for managing the high power loads, motors for components like the cutter head designed to move more dirt faster, and the control systems to ensure a smooth mining process. This is key as the company is aiming to use triple the power for its tunnel-digging machines.
Software Engineering Manager
This person will be tasked with managing a team of software engineers as they design, test and implement code for the tunnel-digging equipment. This will be vital as the company works to ensure its C++ code written for embedded Linux platforms works accordingly.
Senior Electrical Engineer — Control Systems
This candidate will need to develop control systems for electrical, mechanical and fluid power. They will also need to develop guidance, navigation and control systems for the digging machines, crucial for ensuring projects follow the correct path.
Senior Electrical Engineer — Data Acquisition
The candidate will have to work with other engineers to properly integrate electrical systems, while leading the development of data acquisition, management and analysis systems.
An illustration via The Boring Company imagines a system of tunnels running underneath cities like L.A.
Senior Fire & Life Safety Engineer
This role will be key to ensuring The Boring Company can prove itself on safety. The candidate will need to design and engineer life safety systems for both subways and tunnels, analyze subway networks using the subway environment simulation software and provide support for construction teams.
Senior Full Stack Developer
This candidate will need to “never settle for the status quo” as they take control of all aspects relating to product development. The successful candidate will have to find efficient solutions to issues while also providing technical leadership.
Senior Mechanical Engineer — Design
You’ll be leading the design of components like boring parts, support systems equipment, tunnel segment production and more. You’ll need to be the expert on mechanical design projects, ensure all systems are compliant with regulations and effectively communicate designs.
Senior Tunnel Engineer
This engineer will be tasked with supervising engineers, planning and co-ordinating projects, leading the structural design and more. Anyone that’s ever wanted to lead a new project may find this role as their ideal position.
Related video: Elon Musk Says The Boring Company is Not Anti-Public Transport