Sr. Site Reliability Engineer, AI Infrastructure (Starshield)
About this role
The Starshield team at SpaceX designs, builds, tests, and operates the largest US government satellite constellation, delivering immediate access to intelligence and national security data worldwide. Engineers in this group focus on the software and GPU infrastructure that supports critical national security missions by deploying and managing on-premise compute resources and scalable systems.
In daily work, the incoming senior site reliability engineer designs, operates, and scales bare-metal hardware and virtualized platforms supporting AI clusters at massive scale. Team members develop automation for Kubernetes and operating systems, provide GPU-as-a-service support, and collaborate directly with AI engineers across the organization.
Candidates who thrive in this environment possess deep technical expertise in Linux, Kubernetes, and GPU infrastructure, combined with a willingness to manage complex on-premise data centers. Strong candidates can guide teams toward technical excellence while handling national security missions that require active security clearances.
What you will do
- Manage GPU and CPU infrastructure deployments inside Top Secret data centers.
- Provide operational support for GPU as a service to external customers on bare metal and virtualized platforms.
- Design, validate, and productize solutions for AI clusters at a scale exceeding 100,000 GPUs.
- Develop automation tools to deploy and manage on-premise Kubernetes and AI clusters alongside operating systems.
- Deploy and maintain core infrastructure components including databases, monitoring systems, and distributed storage.
- Collaborate closely with AI engineers to build scalable, operable, and maintainable software products.
- Improve the entire lifecycle of services from initial inception and design through deployment and operation.
- Mentor junior engineers and lead the broader team toward technical excellence through sound engineering decisions.
What you need
- Possess a bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, IT, or an engineering discipline with at least five years of professional Linux operating system experience, or seven years of software, DevOps, or SRE experience without a degree.
- Demonstrate at least five years of professional experience working with Kubernetes.
- Bring a minimum of five years of experience managing Linux operating systems in production environments.
- Have practical working experience with infrastructure tooling such as Terraform or Ansible.
- Show documented experience working with containerization technologies including OCI containers and Kubernetes.
- Demonstrate experience scripting in languages like Bash or Python.
- Have software development experience in Python, C++, or Go.
- Qualify for and successfully obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance as a condition of employment.
Nice to have
- 5+ years of experience with Python and Python-based development frameworks
- Experience managing Kubernetes clusters beyond basic usage
- Deep understanding of testing, continuous integration, build, deployment, and continuous monitoring
- Strong networking knowledge of TCP/IP and cloud virtualization experience
- Experience using NVIDIA GPU deployment stacks such as Blackwell and Rubin
Benefits
- Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage
- Access to a 401(k) retirement plan and employee stock purchase plan
- Short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, and paid parental leave
- 3 weeks of paid vacation and 10 or more paid holidays per year
- Company shuttles for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the Redmond office
- A 10% differential up to an additional $20,000 annually for employees with an active clearance briefed into a classified program
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the salary range for this role?
The base pay range for Level 3 is $165,000.00 to $270,000.00. The actual level and base salary are determined on a case-by-case basis based on job-related knowledge, skills, education, and experience.
Where is the position located?
The role is based at the SpaceX office in Redmond, Washington. Company shuttles are offered to employees for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to this office Monday through Friday.
What are the security clearance requirements?
This position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment. While the clearance may not be immediately necessary upon hire, candidates are encouraged to initiate the application process promptly upon accepting the offer.
What additional compensation is available beyond base salary?
Employees may be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards, discretionary bonuses, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Additionally, those with an active clearance receive a 10% differential up to an additional $20,000 annually once officially briefed into a classified program.