Application Software Engineer, Applied AI

About the role

SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make a future where humanity is out exploring the stars possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars. The application software team is the central nervous system of SpaceX, creating mission critical applications used throughout SpaceX to accelerate launch vehicle production and flight, as well as systems that allow Starlink to grow into a worldwide fast, reliable Internet service.

In this Applied AI role within the Application Software team, you will design, evaluate, deploy, and integrate modern AI systems—including large language models and agentic systems—that power products and infrastructure across SpaceX. You will own the end-to-end lifecycle of AI capabilities from prototype to production while partnering closely with Product, Engineering, and Operations teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop highly reliable software solutions used across SpaceX, including AI-powered applications that accelerate production, flight, and Starlink operations
• Create new applications that improve how SpaceX operates by incorporating modern large language models, agentic systems, and other AI capabilities
• Own the full lifecycle of Applied AI systems: design, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and iteration from prototype to production
• Deep dive into users’ problems to uncover high-leverage AI opportunities and deliver efficient, production-grade solutions
• Architect production systems for agentic workflows, tool-use, multi-agent orchestration, advanced retrieval, and long-context applications that prioritize reliability, safety, and responsible deployment
• Build and maintain rigorous evaluation frameworks and production observability/monitoring for AI quality, safety, latency, and cost
• Stay at the frontier of LLM techniques and rapidly incorporate emerging best practices into production systems across SpaceX programs

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or scientific discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience building software in lieu of a degree

1+ years of experience in full stack development

Skills

• Hands-on experience evaluating, deploying, and integrating AI models into production systems
• Proven track record of delivering (or significantly contributing to) end-to-end AI products or production AI-powered features
• Proven track record of shipping real-world AI products from prototype through production deployment and iteration
• Deep hands-on experience with modern LLM techniques: agentic systems, tool-use / function calling, multi-agent orchestration, advanced retrieval architectures, fine-tuning, and structured outputs
• Experience building production evaluation systems and AI observability/monitoring
• Experience designing and implementing production architecture for AI-powered applications with strong emphasis on reliability, safety, and responsible deployment
• Previous experience in AI product design, development, integration, testing, and productionization
• Strong software engineering foundation with expertise in designing production systems and a track record of writing clean, maintainable code
• Programming experience in Python, C#.NET, Go, Scala, Java, or similar
• Production experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and modern data streaming (Kafka or similar)
• Front-end experience (Angular, React, or similar) and database experience (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or similar)
• Demonstrated ability to stay current with rapidly evolving AI technologies and best practices
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver results across multiple parallel priorities in a fast-paced, high-reliability environment

Additional Requirements

You may be asked to work extended hours/weekends dependent on launch cadence

This role requires you to be onsite. Remote and/or hybrid work will not be considered

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.