SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.
SR. SITE RELIABILITY ENGINEER, DATA - TOP SECRET CLEARANCE (APPLICATION SOFTWARE, DATA) The application software team is the central nervous system of SpaceX - we create mission-critical applications that are used throughout SpaceX to accelerate launch vehicle production and flight, as well as systems that allow Starlink to grow into a worldwide fast, reliable Internet service. Our missions support scientific research, classified national security space, and commercial opportunities. Software engineering and innovation are at the core of these programs.
Our team is currently creating and evolving systems to enable rapid build and reuse of Starship, as well as scaling the Starlink network. We have built systems to support concurrent streams of data from numerous always-on assets, enabling the management of the world's largest satellite constellation and the world's largest rocket. We work directly with engineers across all programs to enable and accelerate the success of Starship, Starlink, and Starshield.
Aerospace experience is not required for success here - rather, we look for smart, motivated, and collaborative site reliability engineers who love solving problems and want to make an impact on a truly inspiring mission. You will have full ownership of challenging problems, working with a team of enthusiastic engineers to design and produce solutions that enable SpaceX to move towards our goals at a rapid pace. The success of the missions at SpaceX depends on the software that you and your team produce.
RESPONSIBILITIES: - Upgrade existing distributed systems to become sharded and geo-redundant in multiple data centers
- Advance existing deployment, monitoring, and alerting infrastructure to support a multi-region environment
- Manage petabyte scale bare metal compute clusters
- Closely collaborate with engineers across all programs to create highly operable, scalable, and maintainable products
- Engage throughout the whole software development lifecycle of services -- from inception to design, deployment, operation, and iterative refinement
- Focus on performance bottlenecks and performance improvement techniques
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS: - Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or scientific discipline and 5 years of software development experience; OR 7+ years of professional experience building software with site reliability or DevOps in lieu of a degree
- Experience with Linux operating systems
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: - 5+ years of rigorous experience with site reliability or DevOps
- Experience with Kubernetes and Istio for on-premise deployment
- Experience with in-stream, data processing and analytics using open source platforms such as Apache Kafka, Spark, HBase, HDFS, Flink
- Experience troubleshooting hardware and network-layer issues
- Programming experience in Python, C#, Java, Scala, Go or similar languages
- Good understanding of version control, testing, continuous integration, build, deployment and monitoring
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: - Active Top Secret or TS/SCI. Note that an active clearance may provide the opportunity for you to work on sensitive SpaceX missions. If so, you will be subject to pre-employment drug and random drug and alcohol testing
- Willing to work extended hours and weekends when needed
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: Pay Range:
Software Engineer/Senior: $160,000.00 - $220,000.00/per year
Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience. Those with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $15,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.
Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation & will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.
ITAR REQUIREMENTS: Learn more about the ITAR here.
SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of 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.
Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX's Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to
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