Manager, IT Infrastructure (Storage, Compute, & Virtualization)

InvestedintheMission; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k)

Stock options

Employee stock purchase plan

Paid vacation

Paid holidays

Discretionary bonuses

Discounts

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking an experienced IT Infrastructure Manager to lead compute, virtualization, and storage operations across engineering, production, and mission teams. You will mentor a high-caliber team and drive automation, reliability, and scalable design.

The role demands hands-on leadership, strong vendor management, and the ability to design and implement HA, DR, and backup strategies while aligning with SpaceX's goals and security requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in STEM and 5+ years hands-on experience in enterprise compute, virtualization, and storage.
• 8+ years in enterprise compute/infrastructure roles in lieu of degree.
• Experience leading IT teams and driving automation.
• Proven ability to document and communicate highly technical concepts clearly.
• Strong problem-solving and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Own architecture and day-to-day operation of compute, virtualization, and storage platforms.
• Lead a team of engineers and administrators who design, build, and operate hypervisor clusters and storage systems.
• Drive capacity planning and performance optimization to stay ahead of demand.
• Design HA, backup, replication, and DR strategies for VM and storage.
• Mentor engineers in hardware and virtualization design.
• Establish standards for servers, hypervisors, and storage; manage procurement and vendor relations.
• Drive provisioning, patching, and automation across compute/storage.
• Collaborate with network, facilities, security, and application teams.

Skills

Enterprise compute infra

Server virtualization

Storage platforms

Scripting (Python/PowerShell)

Infra as code (Ansible)

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

8+ years in lieu of degree

Tools

VMware vSphere/vCenter

Hyper-V

KVM

NetApp

Pure Storage

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.

MANAGER, IT INFRASTRUCTURE (STORAGE, COMPUTE & VIRTUALIZATION)

SpaceX is looking for an experienced IT infrastructure manager with deep knowledge of enterprise compute, virtualization, and storage platforms. This person will manage a world-class team of IT engineers focused on the design, development, and operation of the server, hypervisor, and storage systems that support SpaceX engineering, production, and mission teams. The ideal candidate should be a self-starter with excellent motivation, leadership, and ingenuity, and should be interested in a hands-on management position. You will coach, motivate, and lead the team, while remaining capable of designing, troubleshooting, and executing on the platforms yourself.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own the architecture, lifecycle, and day-to-day operation of enterprise compute, virtualization, and storage platforms that support SpaceX engineering, production, and mission workloads.
• Manage and continuously develop a team of highly capable engineers and administrators who design, build, and operate hypervisor clusters, purpose-built servers, and high-performance storage systems (NAS, SAN, and object storage).
• Lead capacity planning, performance engineering, and standards for compute and storage so hardware and software platforms stay ahead of demand from SpaceX engineering teams.
• Design, implement, and report on high-availability, backup, replication, and disaster recovery strategies for virtual machines, datastores, and storage arrays.
• Mentor systems engineers in designing, configuring, and supporting purpose-built servers and virtualization hosts, with emphasis on performance-optimized, resilient designs.
• Establish hardware and platform standards for servers, hypervisors, and storage; submit and track orders; and work with server and storage vendors to negotiate pricing and ensure availability.
• Supervise installation, configuration, firmware/lifecycle management, and decommission of servers, hypervisor hosts, and storage systems.
• Drive automation of provisioning, patching, and operational tasks across compute and storage (templates, infrastructure as code, and scripting) so the team can scale without linear headcount growth.
• Partner with network, facilities, security, and application teams on connectivity, power/cooling constraints, access controls, and workload placement — without owning data center mechanical/electrical systems.
• Schedule and provide off-peak or weekend support when necessary to perform high-risk or planned downtime of SpaceX compute, virtualization, and storage systems for upgrades and maintenance.
• Interact with internal business units to provide solutions and resolve problems in a timely and proactive manner.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline and 5+ years of hands-on experience in two or more of the following: enterprise-class server/compute infrastructure design, server virtualization platforms, and enterprise storage platforms (NAS, SAN, and/or object storage); OR 8+ years in enterprise-class server/compute infrastructure design, server virtualization platforms, and enterprise storage platforms (NAS, SAN, and/or object storage) in lieu of a degree.
• 5+ years of experience leading and managing technical IT teams.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Experience architecting and operating enterprise storage, including protocols and platforms such as NFS, SMB/CIFS, iSCSI, Fibre Channel, NVMe-oF, NetApp, Pure Storage, and object storage.
• Experience operating production virtualization platforms such as VMware vSphere/vCenter (clustering, HA, DRS, vMotion, datastore design) and/or Hyper‑V or KVM.
• Deep expertise generating server and host design specifications (CPU, memory, NIC, HBA, local vs. shared storage) to meet defined performance, availability, and density requirements.
• Experience with array- and hypervisor-based snapshots, replication, and backup integration for VM and storage recovery.
• Proven ability to diagnose compute and storage performance issues (IOPS, latency, queue depth, CPU ready/co-stop, datastore contention, fabric/pathing).
• Experience writing instructional documentation and conveying highly technical ideas in terms non-technical staff can easily understand.
• A motivated, self-starting personality that is able to work independently while maintaining patience with constant interruptions and multiple requests.
• Experience engineering and operating in a modern data center environment driven by automation, holistic monitoring, and infrastructure as code.
• Fluent in a scripting language used to automate day-to-day tasks (e.g. Python, PowerShell); Ansible or equivalent configuration management is a plus.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must be able to lift up to 25 lbs unassisted for duties such as unpacking and rack‑mounting servers and storage equipment, or moving large equipment racks.
• Availability for travel as required, (<25%).
• Availability for extended hours and occasional weekends.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Pay Range: $165,000.00 - $240,000.00

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.

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 Aff…? [e-mail].