AI Engineer, Platform Infrastructure, Special Programs

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Palo Alto, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical, vision & dental coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Paid parental leave

3 weeks vacation

10+ holidays per year

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking an AI Engineer, Platform Infrastructure to design, build, and maintain deployment tooling for classified environments. You will work with cleared engineers at sites to deliver deterministic, well-tested automation and monitoring solutions.

The role emphasizes cross-site collaboration, profile-based rendering, and scalable infrastructure across public cloud, on-prem, and air-gapped environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, physics, data science, or engineering discipline.
• 1+ years of experience in Go Lang and/or Python.
• 1+ years of experience working with Kubernetes or similar tooling for automating, developing and scaling containerized applications.

Responsibilities

• Design and build the deployment generator.
• Create and maintain platform documentation.
• Build the bundle pipeline.
• Implement profile-driven rendering for public cloud, enterprise on-prem, and classified air-gap targets based on profile selection.
• Build and maintain the cross-profile CI matrix.
• Build the testing and validation framework.
• Integrate with the existing Supercompute team's operators, Helm charts, and CRDs by consuming their work as inputs to the generator without modifying production infrastructure.
• Own the monitoring stack migration.

Skills

Go or Python

Kubernetes

Security clearance

CI/CD pipelines

Linux systems

Air-gapped deployment

GPU infrastructure

PXE boot provisioning

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

Tools

Pulumi

Terraform

Buildkite

GitHub Actions

Helm

Job description

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 ofenabling human life on Mars.

AI ENGINEER, PLATFORM INFRASTRUCTURE, SPECIAL PROGRAMS

As an AI Engineer, Platform Infrastructure you will build the tooling, and work with our cleared engineers at classified sites execute it. The quality of what you build directly determines how effectively those engineers can operate in environments where they cannot call you for help. Your tooling must be deterministic, complete, well-tested, and foolproof.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design and build the deployment generator.
• Create and maintain platform documentation.
• Build the bundle pipeline.
• Implement profile-driven rendering for public cloud, enterprise on‑prem, and classified air‑gap targets based on profile selection.
• Build and maintain the cross-profile CI matrix.
• Build the testing and validation framework.
• Integrate with the existing Supercompute team's operators, Helm charts, and CRDs by consuming their work as inputs to the generator without modifying production infrastructure.
• Own the monitoring stack migration.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, physics, data science, or engineering discipline.
• 1+ years of experience in Go Lang and/or Python.
• 1+ years of experience working with Kubernetes or similar tooling for automating, developing and scaling containerized applications.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret or Top Secret SCI clearance.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation (Buildkite, GitHub Actions, or equivalent).
• Familiarity with container image management.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (Pulumi or Terraform) and understanding of state management tradeoffs.
• Understanding of Linux systems.
• Experience building air‑gapped or disconnected deployment tooling where all dependencies must be pre‑staged.
• Familiarity with GPU infrastructure, including NVIDIA drivers, CUDA, NCCL, InfiniBand/RoCE networking.
• Experience with PXE boot, cloud‑init, squashfs, or other bare metal provisioning technologies.
• Own the bare metal provisioning pipeline.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
• 20% travel may be required to government sites.
• This position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment. While the clearance may not be immediately necessary upon hire, we encourage you to initiate the application process promptly upon accepting this offer. Your ability to secure the necessary clearance is essential for fulfilling key responsibilities of the role. Should you be unable to obtain it, SpaceX reserves the right to modify or terminate your employment to align with operational needs.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay range:
AI Engineer: $135,000 - $230,000/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 and long‑term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and 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.

• 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 Aff… or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to [e-mail] .

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in SpaceX’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A 'disabled veteran' is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A 'recently separated veteran' means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An 'active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran' means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An 'Armed forces service medal veteran' means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.