Sr. Site Reliability Engineer - Top Secret Clearance; Starlink

Sr. Site Reliability Engineer – Top Secret Clearance (Starlink)

Location: Hawthorne, CA

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity explores 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. We are leveraging our experience in building rockets and spacecraft to deploy Starlink, the world’s most advanced broadband internet system.

Starlink is the world’s largest satellite constellation and is providing fast, reliable internet to 9M+ users worldwide.

As a Sr. Site Reliability Engineer on the Starlink program, you will solve challenges that improve our ability to fully utilize the hardware we have deployed. Our goal is to provide customers with the best possible satellite internet experience, often providing under‑served communities with affordable, life‑changing broadband internet access.

• Upgrade existing distributed systems to become sharded and geo‑redundant in multiple data centers
• Advance existing deployment, monitoring, and alerting infrastructure to support a multi‑region environment
• Closely collaborate with engineers across all programs to create highly operable, scalable, and maintainable products
• Engage throughout the whole software development lifecycle of services – from inception to design, deployment, operation, and iterative refinement
• Focus on performance bottlenecks and performance improvement techniques

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, or a scientific discipline and 5 years of software development experience; OR 7+ years of professional experience building software with site reliability or Dev Ops in lieu of a degree
• Experience with Linux operating systems

• 5+ years of rigorous experience with site reliability or Dev Ops
• Experience with Kubernetes and Istio for on‑premise deployment
• Experience with in‑stream data processing and analytics using open source platforms such as Apache Kafka, Spark, HBase, HDFS, Flink
• Experience troubleshooting hardware and network‑layer issues
• Programming experience in Python, C#, Java, Scala, or similar languages
• Good understanding of version control, testing, continuous integration, build, deployment, and monitoring

• Willing to work extended hours and weekends when needed
• Active Top Secret or TS/SCI clearance. Note that an active clearance may provide the opportunity to work on sensitive SpaceX missions and will be subject to pre‑employment drug and random drug and alcohol testing

Pay Range:
Software Engineer/Senior – $ – $ per year. Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case‑by‑case basis and may vary based on job‑related knowledge and skills. Those with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $15,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.

Employees 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. SpaceX provides 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.

Employees accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and 10 or more paid holidays per year, plus paid sick leave per company policy.

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, 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, should contact