IT Storage Engineer

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Brownsville (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking an experienced IT Storage Engineer to design, implement, and maintain storage infrastructure supporting mission-critical workloads.

The role requires hands-on expertise with NetApp, Pure Storage, Vast, and HPE Alletra in on-prem environments, plus strong knowledge of NFS, SMB, iSCSI, and NVMe over TCP. You will collaborate across compute, networking, and app teams and participate in on-call rotations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or related STEM field, or 3+ years of storage experience.
• Experience with enterprise storage platforms: NetApp, Pure Storage, Vast, HPE Alletra.
• Strong understanding of storage protocols: NFS, CIFS/SMB, iSCSI, and NVMe over TCP.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain storage infrastructure across multiple tiers: high-performance, capacity, archive, backup/recovery, and disaster recovery.
• Architect and operate high-throughput, low-latency storage and support exabyte-scale file systems.
• Administer storage systems including NetApp, Pure FlashArray/FlashBlade, Vast, and HPE Alletra.
• Monitor and troubleshoot storage performance across the full stack: hardware, transport (RDMA), and protocol layers.
• Troubleshoot complex issues that involve multiple protocols and operating systems.
• Manage storage access, data permissions, and access controls across protocols.
• Develop automation and tooling for monitoring, capacity planning, configuration management, and alerting.
• Define and enforce standards for storage deployment, performance tuning, and operational management.
• Collaborate with compute, networking, and application teams to align storage strategies with workload requirements.
• Participate in maintenance, on-call rotation, and occasional hardware installation.

Skills

Storage engineering

NetApp

Pure Storage

NVMe over TCP

iSCSI

NFS/CIFS

Automation

Python

On-prem infrastructure

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

NetApp

Pure Storage

Vast

HPE Alletra

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 of enabling human life on Mars.

IT STORAGE ENGINEER

SpaceX is seeking an experienced storage engineer with deep expertise in enterprise storage platforms. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in performance-critical settings and is eager to build storage infrastructure supporting mission-critical workloads like simulation, telemetry, and test data processing.

The ideal candidate will possess knowledge of both Pure and NetApp storage systems running iSCSI with hands‑on keyboard as well as on hardware in an on-premises environment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, implement, and maintain storage infrastructure across multiple tiers: high-performance, capacity, archive, backup/recovery, and disaster recovery.
• Architect and operate high-throughput, low-latency storage and support exabyte scale file systems (e.g., VAST,) for simulation, telemetry, and high-concurrency workloads.
• Administer storage systems including NetApp, Pure FlashArray/FlashBlade, Vast, and HPE Alletra.
• Monitor and troubleshoot storage performance across the full stack: hardware, transport (RDMA), and protocol layers.
• Troubleshoot complex issues that require an understanding of the interaction of various protocols and operating systems.
• Manage storage access, data permissions, and access controls across different protocols and operating systems.
• Develop automation and tooling for monitoring, capacity utilization and planning, configuration management, and alerting.
• Define and enforce standards for storage deployment, performance tuning, and operational management.
• Collaborate with compute, networking, and application teams to align storage strategies with system architecture and workload requirements.
• Participate in scheduled maintenance, on‑call rotation, and occasional physical installation of hardware.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or other STEM discipline and 3+ years of professional IT storage engineering experience; OR 5+ years of IT storage engineering experience in lieu of a degree.
• Experience with enterprise storage platforms: NetApp, Pure Storage, Vast, HPE Alletra.
• Strong understanding of storage protocols: NFS, CIFS/SMB, iSCSI, and NVMe over TCP.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Experience with client and server hardware/software, monitoring tools, enterprise networking, and virtualization.
• Mid-level experience with DFS administration.
• High level of network knowledge.
• Experience automating infrastructure with Python, PowerShell, or Ansible.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to explain complex designs in clear terms.
• Experience collaborating with virtualization teams as an infrastructure engineer.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
• 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 reach out to [e-mail].

Voluntary Self‑Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the down‑below self‑identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential 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 measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is 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.

Voluntary Self‑Identification of Disability

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability.

Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

• Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
• Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
• Blind or low vision
• Cancer (past or present)
• Cardiovascular or heart disease
• Celiac disease
• Cerebral palsy
• Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
• Diabetes
• Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
• Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
• Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
• Intellectual or developmental disability
• Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
• Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
• Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
• Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
• Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
• Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
• Short stature (dwarfism)
• Traumatic brain injury