Software Engineer, Vehicle Operations (Starshield)

Linuxcareers; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Paid parental leave

10+ paid holidays annually

Job summary

SpaceX is looking for a Software Engineer for the Starshield Vehicle Operations team, which uses Starlink technology to support critical government missions. The role involves developing high-performance software for satellite operations and managing constellation performance.

Eligible candidates should have at least a bachelor's in computer science or aerospace engineering and experience in software development with C, C++, or Python. Competitive salary and benefits include comprehensive medical coverage, long-term incentives, and generous vacation policies.

Qualifications

• Software development experience in C, C++, Python, or similar languages.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, aerospace engineering, or physics.
• Ability to maintain an active security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement reliable algorithms and software.
• Lead satellite operations during flights.
• Drive investigations for on-orbit anomalies.

Skills

C

C++

Python

Software development in a Linux environment

Interdisciplinary engineering collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or aerospace engineering

Master's degree or Ph.D. in related fields

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Software Engineer for the Starshield Vehicle Operations team. Starshield leverages SpaceX's Starlink technology to support government national security missions including earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. In this role, you will develop software for highly reliable and autonomous operations of the Starshield satellite constellation, monitor constellation performance, and conduct on-orbit investigations.

What You'll Do

• Design, develop, and implement highly reliable and performant algorithms, flight software, simulations, tools, services, and dashboards
• Lead on-orbit satellite operations through all phases of flight, perform on-call rotations, satellite commanding, and data reviews to maintain continuous vehicle and payload operation
• Detect and triage emerging on-orbit anomalies across all satellite subsystems, driving investigations and implementing autonomous fault detection and recovery responses
• Work closely with cross-disciplinary engineers in mechanical, thermal, software, test, guidance/control/navigation, and network engineering to deliver reliable connectivity and new capabilities
• Act as a cross-disciplinary expert supporting cradle-to-grave development of new features and capabilities

What You Need

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, aerospace engineering, physics, or another engineering discipline
• Software development experience in C, C++, Python, or other similar programming languages
• Ability to obtain or maintain an active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q security clearance
• U.S. citizenship, U.S. lawful permanent residency, or eligible refugee/asylee status to satisfy ITAR requirements

Nice to Have

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in an engineering discipline, computer science, or physics
• Experience working on interdisciplinary engineering projects with software-hardware interaction and testing automation
• Software development experience in a Linux environment
• Ability to intuit about physical systems and general exposure to spacecraft flight disciplines with practical hardware-software systems experience
• Experience or strong interest in satellite telemetry and alerting systems, full-stack operations tooling, autonomous fault detection/isolation/recovery (FDIR), and command and control
• Knowledge of computer architecture, networks, and inter-process communications such as RESTful APIs and gRPC
• Understanding of version control, testing, continuous integration, build, deployment, and monitoring
• Experience with data visualization techniques and web development for both front-end and back-end

Level 1: $125,000–$150,000 base salary; Level 2: $145,000–$175,000 base salary. Base salary determined on case-by-case basis based on job-related knowledge, skills, education, and experience. Eligible for long-term incentives (company stock or long-term cash awards), discretionary bonuses, and employee stock purchase plan. Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage; 401(k) retirement plan; short and long-term disability insurance; life insurance; paid parental leave; 3 weeks paid vacation; 10+ paid holidays annually. Active clearance holders receive 10% differential up to an additional $20,000 annually once briefed into a classified program.