Security Engineer (Detection Engineering)

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Redmond (WA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock or equity

Medical, vision, and dental

401(k)

Paid time off

Company shuttle (Seattle area)

Job summary

SpaceX in Redmond, WA is seeking a Security Engineer (Detection Engineering) to join the Security Operations Center. You will build and improve detection mechanisms, engage owners of high‑risk systems, and investigate anomalous activity to close visibility gaps.

The role emphasizes automation, data enrichment, and scalable tooling in a Kubernetes environment, with opportunities to influence proactive defense and threat detection across SpaceX's mission critical systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience with STEM field.
• Experience with Python, Go, C++, or Rust and security operations.

Responsibilities

• Build and improve security detection mechanisms and automation frameworks for SOC.
• Identify and prioritize detection gaps with owners of high‑risk systems.
• Investigate anomalous or suspicious behavior to close visibility gaps.
• Participate in adversary emulation to reveal detection gaps.

Skills

Python

Go

C++

Rust

Incident Response

CSIRT experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in security engineering, computer science, cyber security, engineering, math, or other STEM

2+ years of relevant work experience in lieu of a degree

Tools

Kubernetes

SIEM

ETL pipelines

Windows/Linux/macOS familiarity

Job description

Security Engineer (Detection Engineering)

Redmond, WA

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.

SECURITY ENGINEER (DETECTION ENGINEERING)

SpaceX is targeted by sophisticated adversaries determined to disrupt or obtain the cutting-edge technology it develops. SpaceX is hiring a Security Engineer to join the security operations Blue Team to build the capabilities needed to detect and respond to these adversaries. The environment in which you will operate is used to launch rockets and control spacecraft. You will be tasked with developing the tooling and data delivery mechanisms the security operations team will use to catch these threat actors in this environment before they can disrupt or deny SpaceX’s mission.

Your output will be developing solutions to address visibility gaps while bolstering the resilience of internally developed tooling to ensure maximum uptime for detecting threats. Your work may involve creating automation workflows to drive down time to triage security detections, developing a service to pull in new datasets or enrich existing ones, and finally helping the SOC respond and address visibility gaps from an incident. If you are interested in detecting and disrupting sophisticated threat actors in order to secure SpaceX’s mission to Mars, let’s talk!

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Build and improve existing security detection mechanisms and automation frameworks that directly drive what the Security Operations Center detects.
• Engage with relevant owners of high-risk systems and services to identify and prioritize detection gaps.
• Investigate anomalous or suspicious behavior in the environment as it is identified in the detection engineering process.
• Participate in adversary emulation activities to identify detection gaps in the environment.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in security engineering, computer science, cyber security, engineering, math, or other STEM discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience in incident response, security operations, or security engineering role in lieu of a degree
• Experience with any modern programming language, including but not limited to: Python, Go, C++, Rust.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Experience performing Incident Response related tasks or being a part of a role directly contributing to a CSIRT team.
• Experience building Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) pipelines from diverse systems to optimize logging formats for threat detection.
• Demonstrated ability to support and manage services in a Kubernetes (k8s) environment, ensuring high availability and reliability through monitoring, alerting, and infrastructure automation.
• Knowledge of traditional Security Operations environments and response procedures, including modern security information and event management (SIEM) systems.
• Knowledge of common Red Team and Adversarial attack trends and techniques, and the evidence sources needed to investigate.
• Knowledge of common attack trends or techniques, and the evidence sources needed to investigate.
• Familiarity with enterprise security controls and best practices for Windows, Linux, and/or macOS systems.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be able to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
• This role requires you to be fully onsite. Remote or hybrid work will not be considered.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay Range:
Level 1: $130,000.00 - $155,000.00
Level 2: $150,000.00 - $180,000.00

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 in Washington State accrue paid sick time in compliance with state and federal law. Company shuttles are offered to employees for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the SpaceX Redmond office Monday to Friday.

• 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 [e-mail] .

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