Software Engineer (Starshield Products)
About this role
This role addresses the need to reliably operate and deploy advanced AI capabilities, such as models and APIs, for U.S. federal agencies. The Product Operations Engineer will be central to ensuring that these AI services are maximally useful for critical missions while strictly adhering to SpaceX's standards for transparency and ethics. This position is designed for an engineer who excels at maintaining the health and performance of complex systems, taking full ownership of the service reliability lifecycle. They will be responsible for diagnosing and resolving critical issues for key government customers, improving system observability, and addressing technical debt within essential codebases.
The engineer will act as a crucial liaison between the technical infrastructure and agency stakeholders, translating operational needs into technical solutions and iterating based on real-world feedback. This involves deep-dive troubleshooting, proactive monitoring implementation, and strategic input into core product investments. Individuals who thrive on ambiguity, possess strong ownership, and recognize the urgency of customer-facing outages would be well-suited for this function. It requires a blend of deep technical skill and strong communication abilities to bridge the gap between complex AI systems and government partners.
What you will do
- Own the health, performance, and stability of integrations between frontier AI models and government systems, platforms, and data environments.
- Continuously invest in documentation, metrics, monitors, and other troubleshooting tools to ensure services remain observable and operable.
- Tackle critical issues for key government customers by responding to automated alerts and investigating reported problems to drive lasting fixes.
- Partner with agency stakeholders to understand operational requirements, prototype solutions, and iterate rapidly based on feedback.
- Address technical debt in essential codebases and contribute to strategic investments in core products.
- Participate in on-call rotations during business hours and occasional weekends to maintain resilient, high-uptime production systems.
What you need
- A Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or another STEM discipline is required, or at least two years of professional software development experience can substitute for a degree.
- Candidates must have hands-on software engineering experience building scalable systems, APIs, or AI/ML applications, with strong proficiency in Python.
- Experience working with large language models, generative AI, or agentic systems in a research, production, or applied engineering capacity is preferred.
- One year of experience working on enterprise applications serving over 10,000 users across various geographies and time zones is beneficial.
- Familiarity with government or public sector technology environments, such as federal civilian agencies, is a plus.
- A strong product sensibility is necessary to convert ambiguous stakeholder requirements into concrete technical solutions.
- Demonstrated ability to write clean, maintainable, high-performance code under tight timelines is essential.
- Exceptional problem-solving skills and intellectual curiosity are required to handle hard, ambiguous challenges.
Nice to have
- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
- Experience with containerization (Docker/Kubernetes)
- Experience with API orchestration
Benefits
- $135,000.00 - $175,000.00 salary range
- Eligibility for long-term incentives (company stock or long-term cash awards)
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the expected commitment regarding time and travel?
The role requires being willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed. Additionally, 20% travel may be required to government sites.
What is the compensation range for this role?
The base salary range is between $135,000.00 and $175,000.00. Actual base salary is determined on a case-by-case basis based on knowledge, skills, and experience.
What is the primary technology focus of this position?
The role focuses on operating and deploying AI capabilities, including models, APIs, and tools for U.S. federal agencies. This involves managing integrations with frontier AI models like the Grok family.
What is the security requirement for this job?
This position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment. This clearance is essential for fulfilling key responsibilities.