Software Engineer, Vehicle Operations (Starshield)

Summary

SpaceX is a company focused on developing technologies for space exploration and enabling human life on Mars. They are seeking a Software Engineer for the Starshield GNC Software Operations team to develop software for reliable and autonomous operations of the Starshield constellation while collaborating with various engineering disciplines to solve complex problems.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement highly reliable and performant algorithms, flight software, simulations, tools, services, and dashboards
• Act as a cross-disciplinary expert supporting cradle-to-grave development efforts for new features and capabilities
• Lead on-orbit satellite operations through all phases of flight and perform on-call rotations, satellite commanding, and data reviews to keep our vehicles, payloads, and networks continuously operating
• Detect and triage emerging on-orbit anomalies across all satellite subsystems, driving investigations and implementing future autonomous responses
• Work closely with engineers from adjacent discplines (mechanical, thermal, software, test engineering, guidance control navigation, network engineering) to deliver reliable connectivity and new capabilities to our users

Skills

• 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
• Master's degree or Ph.D. in an engineering discipline, computer science, or physics
• Experience working on interdisciplinary engineering projects (software interacting with hardware; hardware interacting with other hardware; testing automation or harnessing)
• Software development experience in a Linux environment
• Ability to intuit about physical systems
• General exposure to the disciplines necessary for spacecraft flight with practical experience in real-world development of complicated hardware-software systems
• Experience or strong interest in satellite telemetry and alerting systems, full-stack operations tooling, autonomous fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR), and command and control
• Ability to communicate effectively and work creatively in a dynamic environment with changing needs and requirements
• Knowledge of computer architecture, networks, and inter-process communications (RESTful APIs, gRPC, etc.)
• Understanding of version control, testing, continuous integration, build, deployment, and monitoring
• Experience with data visualization techniques and web development (both front-end and back-end)
• Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance, or the ability and willingness to obtain one

Qualifications

Must Haves

• 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

Nice to Haves

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in an engineering discipline, computer science, or physics
• Experience working on interdisciplinary engineering projects (software interacting with hardware; hardware interacting with other hardware; testing automation or harnessing)
• Software development experience in a Linux environment
• Ability to intuit about physical systems
• General exposure to the disciplines necessary for spacecraft flight with practical experience in real-world development of complicated hardware-software systems
• Experience or strong interest in satellite telemetry and alerting systems, full-stack operations tooling, autonomous fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR), and command and control
• Ability to communicate effectively and work creatively in a dynamic environment with changing needs and requirements
• Knowledge of computer architecture, networks, and inter-process communications (RESTful APIs, gRPC, etc.)
• Understanding of version control, testing, continuous integration, build, deployment, and monitoring
• Experience with data visualization techniques and web development (both front-end and back-end)
• Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance, or the ability and willingness to obtain one

Benefits

• Long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards
• Potential discretionary bonuses
• Ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• 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
• Various other discounts and perks
• 3 weeks of paid vacation
• 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
• Those with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program