Application Software Engineer, Applied AI

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options & long-term incentives

Comprehensive medical/vision/dental

401(k) retirement plan

Paid time off & holidays

Job summary

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP in Hawthorne, CA is seeking an Application Software Engineer, Applied AI to design, evaluate, deploy, and integrate modern AI systems. You will own AI capabilities from prototype to production, partnering with Product, Engineering, and Operations teams to deliver impactful AI-powered solutions.

The role emphasizes hands-on experience deploying AI models, production-grade software, and leadership in reliability, safety, and observability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering or related field, or 2+ years of software experience
• At least 1 year of full stack development experience
• Experience delivering AI products from prototype to production

Responsibilities

• Develop highly reliable software solutions across SpaceX, including AI-powered applications that accelerate production, flight, and Starlink operations
• Create new applications that incorporate modern large language models and agentic systems
• Own the full lifecycle of Applied AI systems from prototype to production
• Analyze user problems to uncover high‑leverage AI opportunities and deliver production‑grade solutions
• Architect production AI systems emphasizing reliability, safety, and responsible deployment
• Build evaluation frameworks and observability for AI quality, safety, latency, and cost
• Stay at the frontier of LLM techniques and integrate best practices across programs

Skills

AI experience

Full stack development

Python

C#.NET

Go

Java

Scala

Angular/React

PostgreSQL/SQL

Docker

Kubernetes

Distributed systems

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Kafka

Job description

Application Software Engineer, Applied AI

Hawthorne, CA

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.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE ENGINEER, APPLIED AI

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. We are looking for engineers who treat fellow teammates with fairness, respect, and support.

In this Applied AI role within the Application Software team, you will design, evaluate, deploy, and integrate modern AI systems—including large language models and agentic systems—that power products and infrastructure across SpaceX. You will own the end-to-end lifecycle of AI capabilities from prototype to production while partnering closely with Product, Engineering, and Operations teams. We are looking for a strong software engineer with a proven track record of delivering AI products, including hands‑on experience evaluating, deploying, and integrating AI solutions into real production systems.

Aerospace experience is not required – rather we look for smart, motivated, respectful, collaborative engineers who love solving problems and want to make an impact on a super inspiring mission. You will have full ownership of challenging problems, working with a team of enthusiastic engineers with diverse perspectives 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:

• Develop highly reliable software solutions used across SpaceX, including AI-powered applications that accelerate production, flight, and Starlink operations
• Create new applications that improve how SpaceX operates by incorporating modern large language models, agentic systems, and other AI capabilities
• Own the full lifecycle of Applied AI systems: design, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and iteration from prototype to production
• Deep dive into users’ problems to uncover high-leverage AI opportunities and deliver efficient, production-grade solutions
• Architect production systems for agentic workflows, tool-use, multi-agent orchestration, advanced retrieval, and long-context applications that prioritize reliability, safety, and responsible deployment
• Build and maintain rigorous evaluation frameworks (LLM-as‑judge, automated benchmarks, online evaluation) and production observability/monitoring for AI quality, safety, latency, and cost
• Stay at the frontier of LLM techniques and rapidly incorporate emerging best practices into production systems across SpaceX programs

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

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

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Hands‑on experience evaluating, deploying, and integrating AI models into production systems
• Proven track record of delivering (or significantly contributing to) end‑to‑end AI products or production AI‑powered features
• Proven track record of shipping real‑world AI products from prototype through production deployment and iteration
• Deep hands‑on experience with modern LLM techniques: agentic systems, tool‑use / function calling, multi‑agent orchestration, advanced retrieval architectures, fine‑tuning, and structured outputs
• Experience building production evaluation systems (LLM-as‑judge, automated eval harnesses, A/B testing, red‑teaming) and AI observability/monitoring (tracing, quality metrics, safety, cost)
• Experience designing and implementing production architecture for AI‑powered applications with strong emphasis on reliability, safety, and responsible deployment
• Previous experience in AI product design, development, integration, testing, and productionization
• Strong software engineering foundation with expertise in designing production systems (including AI‑powered and system‑to‑system architectures) and a track record of writing clean, maintainable code
• Programming experience in Python, C#.NET, Go, Scala, Java, or similar
• Production experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and modern data streaming (Kafka or similar)
• Front‑end experience (Angular, React, or similar) and database experience (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or similar)
• Demonstrated ability to stay current with rapidly evolving AI technologies and best practices
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver results across multiple parallel priorities in a fast‑paced, high‑reliability environment

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• You may be asked to work extended hours/weekends dependent on launch cadence
• This role requires you to be onsite. Remote and/or hybrid work will not be considered

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: Pay Range:
Level 1: $125,000.00 - $160,000.00
Level 2: $145,000.00 - $195,000.00

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 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.

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