Applied AI Software Engineer — Production-Grade 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

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.