Operations Engineer (Starshield Products)

Starlink; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX in Palo Alto is seeking an Operations Engineer for Starshield products to operate and deploy AI capabilities for U.S. federal agencies.

You will own end-to-end service reliability, including responding to outages and improving codebases to keep missions on track. You will work with product, research, infra, and governance teams, tackle critical issues for government customers, and participate in on-call rotations during business hours and weekends, ensuring high-uptime and observability.

Qualifications

• BS in CS, engineering, or STEM, or 2+ years of software development experience
• Experience building scalable systems, APIs, or AI/ML apps
• Experience with large language models or generative AI

Responsibilities

• Own health, performance, and stability of integrations between frontier AI models and government systems
• Invest in documentation, metrics, monitors, and troubleshooting tools
• Respond to alerts during on-call shifts and drive lasting fixes
• Collaborate with agency stakeholders and product teams to translate needs into solutions
• Address technical debt and inform strategic investments
• Participate in on-call rotations during business hours and weekends

Skills

Python proficiency

LLMs / AI systems

Enterprise apps

Government experience

Product sense

Clean code

Communication

Cloud platforms

Docker Kubernetes

API orchestration

Education

Bachelor's degree or 2+ years experience

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

GCP

Azure

APIs

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.

OPERATIONS ENGINEER (STARSHIELD PRODUCTS)

This team focuses on operating and deploying AI capabilities (models, APIs, tools, and integrations) for U.S. federal agencies. You'll work closely with product, research, infrastructure, and legal/governance teams to make AI and future models maximally useful for missions while upholding SpaceX's standards, transparency, and ethical standards.

Starshield Operations Engineers are responsible for the health, performance, and stability of the services that power these missions. You own the full end-to-end cycle of service reliability—from responding to outages to improving codebases and building lasting solutions.

You will tackle critical issues for key government customers, introduce observability into complex systems, address technical debt in essential codebases, and inform strategic investments in core products. We are looking for engineers who enjoy deep-dive troubleshooting, feel strong ownership over the problems they encounter, and recognize the urgency of customer-facing outages.

During periodic on-call shifts, you will respond to automated alerts, investigate issues reported by customers, and share technical expertise with adjacent product teams.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own the health, performance, and stability of integrations between frontier AI models (e.g., Grok family) and government systems, platforms, and data environments
• Continuously invest in documentation, metrics, monitors, and other troubleshooting tools that keep these services observable and operable
• Tackle critical issues for key government customers: respond to automated alerts, investigate reported problems, and drive lasting fixes
• Partner with agency stakeholders and adjacent product teams to understand operational needs, share technical expertise, and iterate based on real-world feedback.
• Partner with agency stakeholders to understand requirements, prototype solutions, and iterate rapidly based on real-world feedback
• Address technical debt in essential codebases and inform strategic investments in core products
• Participate in on-call rotations during business hours and occasional weekends, maintaining resilient, high-uptime production systems

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering or another STEM discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience in software development in lieu of a degree

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• 1+ years of hands-on software engineering experience building scalable systems, APIs, or AI/ML applications (strong Python proficiency, other languages a plus)
• Experience working with large language models, generative AI, or agentic systems—either in research, production, or applied engineering
• 1+ years of experience working on enterprise applications that serve >10,000 users distributed across geographies and time zones
• Familiarity with government or public sector technology environments (federal civilian agencies, state/local gov, or regulated industries like healthcare, finance, or infrastructure)
• Strong product sensibility: ability to translate ambiguous stakeholder needs into concrete technical solutions
• Demonstrated ability to write clean, maintainable, high-performance code under tight timelines
• Exceptional problem-solving skills and intellectual curiosity—you thrive on hard, ambiguous challenges.
• Excellent communication skills; you can explain complex technical concepts to non-technical partners clearly and concisely.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), API orchestration.

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:
Level 1: $110,000.00 - $145,000.00
Level 2: $125,000.00 - $175,000.00

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 Affi… should reach out to [e-mail].