Software Engineer (AI Data Engineering)

SOFTWARE ENGINEER (AI DATA ENGINEERING) 

AI Data Engineering sits in Falcon & Dragon Avionics and Software. Our job is to 10X SpaceX's 10X engineers: less time hunting plots, waiting on queues, or SSHing into a cluster, more time deciding whether the vehicle is good. 

This seat is on the Vehicle Analysis and HPC side of the team. You will build software that turns flight, test, and factory data into pass/fail reports, features, and Ask-AI on telemetry — and the HPC application layer that lets engineers run that analysis at scale without knowing Linux or hardware specs. You are not a cluster administrator and you are not a generic application-software hire for Starlink. 

Day to day you will own telemetry and test-data pipelines, automated analysis and reporting, and the user-facing HPC application that engineers use to submit and debug work. Customers are reliability, avionics, GNC, propulsion, structures, and launch operations on Falcon, Dragon, Starship, and Raptor. 

We are looking for engineers who treat teammates with fairness, respect, and support. Aerospace experience is not required. You will have full ownership of hard production problems and will work with domain experts who use these tools on the critical path to flight. 

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Develop reliable, scalable data analysis libraries, pipelines, and services on vehicle telemetry and test data
• Build and improve user-facing analysis applications and the HPC application so engineers can submit, debug, and share work without a ticket queue or an SSH session
• Partner with HPC systems engineers and HPC SREs so jobs, storage, and observability match how analysts actually work
• Prototype quickly (notebooks, reports, agents, computer vision, or APIs), then productionize what proves out — including video/inspection review where it saves engineering hours
• Own software from design through test, deploy, and operation; keep report queues and analysis jobs inside the SLAs the rest of the company depends on
• Deep-dive with domain experts across avionics, GNC, propulsion, structures, and launch operations; turn their review questions into durable systems

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS: 

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

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: 

• Programming experience in Python (C# or similar is a plus)
• Experience with data analysis libraries (pandas, NumPy, SciPy)
• Experience with machine learning libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow, or similar)
• Experience with data exploration tools (Grafana, Jupyter, Metabase, or similar)
• Experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL) and with large time-series or object/file datasets
• Experience building APIs and internal web applications
• Experience applying computer vision (OpenCV, Ultralytics, or similar) to production video or image review
• Familiarity with HPC or batch compute (schedulers, containers, shared filesystems) — not required; we will teach the cluster
• Good understanding of version control, testing, CI, deploy, and monitoring
• Some front-end experience (React, Angular, or similar)
• Ability to communicate clearly with users and domain experts

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: 

• Position is based in Hawthorne, CA and is primarily on-site
• Willing to work extended hours and weekends when needed
• Willing to travel when needed

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay Range:
Level 1: $125,000.00 - $160,000.00
Level 2: $145,000.00 - $195,000.00

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.

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 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. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.