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.

SOFTWARE ENGINEER, STARSHIP MANUFACTURING & SITE DEVELOPMENT (APPLICATION SOFTWARE)

SpaceX is looking for ambitious software engineers to build up production of the Starship and Superheavy vehicles and the operations of the Starbase site itself. This team has autonomy to both find and solve problems across the entirety of production and residential domains of Starbase. It’s difficult to understate the challenge of this scope. We have a saying that prototypes are easy, but production is hard, and Starship’s production ambitions are far beyond any launch vehicle in history. We intend to make spaceflight as commonplace as aviation, and to do so will take thousands of these vehicles and entirely new approaches to aerospace manufacturing.

The goal of this program demands solving problems from first principles rather than simply rolling out what has been done before, and you’ll be given the freedom to find the problems most worth solving. You will work directly with the vehicle engineering and production leadership to design novel solutions to hard problems. And if done well, the rest of SpaceX will benefit from the software you’ll build at Starbase to help our other programs achieve their own ambitious goals, which in turn feed back into the success of Starship.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Own all aspects of software engineering and product development at every stage of the product life cycle
  • Develop highly operable software solutions that enable the team to spend most of our time creating new value for the program
  • High engagement with the production and engineering organization to find and prioritize problems
  • Contribute towards core software infrastructure & developer tooling used by the entire company
  • Build a vision for how software will help achieve SpaceX’s long term other-worldly ambitions
  • Elevate the talent and execution of the team by bringing your experience and conviction to the problem space

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or science discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience in software development in lieu of degree
  • Experience in full stack development

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • Track record of designing software systems from nothing, as well as maintaining mature systems
  • 4+ years of experience building web applications
  • Programming experience with a variety of languages (compiled/interpreted, strong/weak typing)
  • Strong ability to root cause software problems and tune system performance down to the hardware constraints
  • Experience with modern software development tooling like version control, CICD, automated testing, observability, and containerization
  • Experience developing on both UNIX-like and Windows operating systems
  • Experience working with in-stream data processing using Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, ActiveMQ, or similar technologies
  • Experience with Front-end technologies such as React, Angular, or similar JavaScript frameworks
  • Experience using databases such as PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or similar database technologies

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: 

  • Willing to work extended hours and weekends when needed 

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay Range:
Software Engineer/Level I: $120,000.00 - $145,000.00/per year
Software Engineer/Level II: $140,000.00 - $170,000.00/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.

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. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year.

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

  • 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. Department of State. 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 notify the Human Resources Department at (310) 363-6000.

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