Sr. Site Reliability Engineer (Application Software)

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Paid parental leave

3 weeks of paid vacation

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP (SpaceX) in Hawthorne, CA is looking for a Sr. Site Reliability Engineer to enhance their application software team. This role requires deploying and maintaining critical systems and collaborating with software engineers to ensure operational excellence.

The ideal candidate should have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or 7+ years of experience in a similar role. Familiarity with Python, Linux, and container technologies is essential. Attractive compensation and comprehensive benefits are provided.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field; OR 7+ years of professional experience in SRE or DevOps in lieu of a degree.
• 3+ years of experience with Python and Python-based development frameworks.
• Experience with Linux operating systems.

Responsibilities

• Deploy and maintain mission-critical products and services.
• Manage infrastructure as code and monitor application health.
• Collaborate with engineers to design maintainable systems.
• Engage in the software development lifecycle and improve processes.
• Provide user support to vehicle software engineers.

Skills

Python Programming

Linux Systems

Infrastructure as Code

Container Technologies

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field or equivalent work experience

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Ansible

Job description

Sr. Site Reliability Engineer (Application Software)

Location: Hawthorne, CA

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.

Overview

The application software team is the central nervous system of SpaceX. We build mission‑critical platforms that accelerate vehicle software delivery, testing, and operations for every Falcon 9, Starship, and Dragon mission, while powering Starlink’s global growth.

This position will have a meaningful impact on Starship by significantly reducing safety‑critical build and test times for vehicle software. We are looking for a Site Reliability Engineer who brings a strong SRE mindset, cares deeply about safety, quality, and attention to detail, and possesses the ability to understand the big picture before writing code. The ideal candidate fully understands what they are building, enjoys hard problem solving, thinks strategically, and is decisive, organized, and self‑critical.

Responsibilities

• Deploy, upgrade, operate, maintain, and scale our suite of mission‑critical products and services.
• Manage our underlying infrastructure as code and use modern observability tools to provide a complete picture of application health.
• Closely collaborate with software engineers to design and build highly operable, maintainable, and testable systems.
• Engage in and improve the entire software development lifecycle — from inception and design through deployment, operation, and continuous refinement.
• Practice sustainable incident response and blameless post‑mortems.
• Provide high‑quality end‑user support to vehicle software engineers.
• Participate in the team’s on‑call rotation.
• Identify and eliminate performance bottlenecks using measurement and creative engineering.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, or an engineering discipline; OR 7+ years of professional experience in SRE or DevOps in lieu of a degree.
• 3+ years of experience with Python and Python‑based development frameworks.
• Experience with Linux operating systems.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with build systems (Bazel, Buck, Make, etc.).
• Experience with container and virtualization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes, vSphere, QEMU, KVM, etc.).
• Experience with databases and data modeling (Postgres, MySQL, ClickHouse, etc.).
• Experience with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools for managing fleets of servers.
• Experience with Terraform, Ansible, Puppet, or similar automation frameworks.
• Knowledge of the technologies that predate and underpin modern cloud infrastructure, with the ability to translate high‑level developer experiences into specific implementations from first principles.
• Ability to work with mission‑critical and sensitive systems with appropriate urgency and care.
• Ability to communicate effectively with customers, peers, and management in both formal and informal settings.

Additional Requirements

• Must be able to work extended hours and weekends as needed.

Compensation and Benefits

Pay Range: Sr. Site Reliability Engineer: $165,000.00 – $230,000.00 per year.

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, stock options, 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, 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, carry‑over, and use requirements of the law.

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.

Equal Employment Opportunity

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].