Sr. Software Engineer, Starlink Network

About the role

SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make human life on Mars possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars. We’re leveraging our experience in building rockets and spacecraft to deploy Starlink, the world’s most advanced broadband internet system. As a Software Engineer on the Starlink program, you will be solving challenges that improve our ability to fully utilize the hardware we have deployed.

Responsibilities

• Develop highly reliable, real-time software designed to run on the gateways, satellites, user terminals, and switches that make up our low latency, high capacity satellite-based global network.
• Participate in and lead architecture, design, and code reviews.
• Develop prototypes and manage experiments to prove out key design concepts.
• Develop tools for software development and deployment, data analysis and visualization, and test execution across multiple environments, including virtualized hardware environments, real hardware-in-the-loop simulations, and on-orbit testing.
• Deploy reliable software, test execution, and data analysis as part of a continuous integration and release system.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, or STEM discipline and 5+ years of professional experience in software development experience; OR 7+ years of professional experience in software development in lieu of a degree. Development experience in C, C++, or assembly.

Skills

• Strong professional experience writing C, C++ or assembly in a production environment.
• Developed, debugged and deployed software that has been used in real world applications/projects.
• Knowledgeable in real-time rendering, game engine development, physics simulation, or other real-time, resource-constrained, high-performance computing.
• Experience with networking protocols (UDP, TCP/IP, etc) and distributed systems.
• Experience in security issues associated with distributed systems and internet services.
• Experience with packet forwarding engines for features like NAT, ACLs, QoS, DPI, load balancing, and DDoS mitigation.
• Proven expertise in IP packet processing at L3/L4 layers, including DPDK, XDP/eBPF or user-space forwarding.
• Experience with high-scale networking hardware (e.g., SmartNICs like Mellanox/NVIDIA BlueField, Intel IPUs) is a plus.

Benefits

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.

Pay

Software Engineer/Level I: $160,000.00 - $225,000.00/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.

Schedule

Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed.