Software Engineer, Satellite Operations (Starshield)

SOFTWARE ENGINEER, SATELLITE OPERATIONS (STARSHIELD)

Starshield leverages SpaceX’s Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts. While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use, with an initial focus on earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads.

As a software engineer working on Starshield’s GNC Operations Software team, you will write software responsible for facilitating highly reliable, available, and autonomous operations of Starshield's satellite constellation. You will work on a wide variety of projects across both ground and flight software including satellite telemetry and alerting systems, full-stack operations tooling, autonomous satellite fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR), payload interface design, and ground service DevOps. In addition to developing software, you'll also be involved in day-to-day constellation performance monitoring and on-orbit investigations demanding good systems knowledge of the entire satellite constellation. Our software engineers work closely with a variety of other engineering disciplines such as GNC, Hardware, RF, etc. in order to diagnose on orbit issues, determine suitable recovery procedures, and implement long term solutions.

This team builds secure, reliable, and autonomous software systems that enable us, and our satellites, to work more efficiently. Our software engineers are responsible cradle-to-grave for the software they create, including design, implementation, rollout, and maintenance. As we expand this team, we're looking for versatile, motivated, and collaborative engineers. Aerospace experience is not required to be successful here, although an engineer with good systems intuition in addition to strong software skills will excel in this role. We want our engineers to bring fresh ideas from all areas. We look for engineers who love solving problems and seek to make an impact on an inspiring mission.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own the complete lifecycle of the software and systems you create, including development, testing, deployment, and operational support
• Develop highly reliable and available software systems for the tasking and monitoring of satellites in low-earth orbit
• Design and implement performant and safe satellite flight software
  
• Build automated ground-based software systems that integrate smart data processing with satellite control
• Act as a a cross-disciplinary expert, collaborating with other engineers to diagnose on-orbit faults and come up with suitable permanent resolutions ensuring we meet mission objectives
• Lead on-orbit satellite operations through all phases of flight and perform on-call rotations, satellite commanding, or data review to keep our vehicles, payloads, and networks continuously operating

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, aerospace engineering, physics or another engineering discipline
• Development experience in C, C++, Python, or other similar programming languages

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Production experience with containerization technologies (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience developing and deploying HTTP servers to build scalable dynamic web operations, tooling, and real-time monitoring applications
• Experience working with relational databases (PostgreSQL, CockroachDB, or similar)
• 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 debugging, performance optimization, and unit testing
• General familiarity with the disciplines necessary for spacecraft flight including: structures, propulsion, avionics, GNC, flight software, dynamics, launch and mission operations, and integration
• Master's degree or Ph.D. in an engineering discipline, computer science, or physics
• Ability to work effectively and creatively in a dynamic environment with changing needs and requirements
• Ability to work independently and in a team, take initiative, and communicate effectively
• Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance, or the ability and willingness to obtain one

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Able to work extended hours and weekends as needed to support critical path development and/or critical on-orbit operations
• An active clearance may provide the opportunity for you to work on sensitive SpaceX missions; if so, you will be subject to pre-employment drug and random drug and alcohol test

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay range:         
Software Engineer/Level I: $125,000.00 - $150,000.00/per year    
Software Engineer/Level II: $145,000.00 - $175,000.00/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. Those with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.

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, 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. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to the Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.