Principal Network Engineer (Starlink Ground Network)

SpaceX•Palo Alto, CA

13h•$200,000 - $285,000•Onsite

About The Position

As a Principal Network Engineer, you will drive the operation, build, and deployment of our network around the world. You will be a key component in managing and expanding our global footprint, improving network performance and reliability, and optimizing our deployments. At SpaceX we’re leveraging our experience in building rockets and spacecraft to deploy Starlink, the world’s most advanced broadband internet system. Starlink is the world’s largest satellite constellation and is providing fast, reliable internet to 7M+ users worldwide. We design, build, test, and operate all parts of the system – thousands of satellites, consumer receivers that allow users to connect within minutes of unboxing, and the software that brings it all together. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of Starlink’s potential global impact and are looking for best-in-class engineers to help maximize Starlink’s utility for communities and businesses around the globe.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a technical or engineering discipline; OR 2+ years of professional networking experience deploying enterprise network solutions and/or cloud & web-scale networks in lieu of a degree
7+ year of networking experience deploying enterprise network solutions and/or cloud & web-scale networks (Internship/Co-op experience recognized)
Layer-1 experience (Example: transport, DWDM, optical fiber, circuit troubleshooting, activations, etc.)
Experience with the deployment of networking hardware (Routers, Modems, Switch, Firewalls, etc..)

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a technical or engineering discipline
Experience bringing up switches, routers, firewalls & servers
Operational experience in a Linux production environment
Experience with Python and/or bash scripting
Routing Protocol experience
Experience with physical troubleshooting of fiber & circuits
Deep understanding of service provider networks including but not limited to: Connectivity (Ethernet, IPv4, IPv6 and MPLS), Routing (BGP, OSPF, IS-IS), Switching and routing, Internet services (subscriber provisioning, BRAS, DNS, DHCP, NTP)
Strong familiarity with network health monitoring systems such as Observium, Solarwinds or Nagios
Experience with hands-on experience bringing up network infrastructure
Experience creating documentation and procedures
Ability to run projects independently
Experience working on wireless networks
Experience working on software defined networking (SDN) and/or network function virtualization (NFV)
Cisco, Juniper, Arista or other industry certification

Responsibilities

Manage and expand network interconnections, network co-location sites and points of presence (POPs)
Improve network performance and reliability based upon system performance metrics, including capacity planning, failure detection and remediation
Assist in capacity augmentation and network optimization deployments
Lead network integration and troubleshooting efforts for the largest and most strategic Starlink customers
Collaborate with hardware, software, and network engineers to create or improve Starlink products.
Support sales teams with technical pre-sales support during the sales cycle by acting as the Starlink technical subject matter expert.
Assist in updating system configuration and firmware
Automation for network devices, operational and deployment tools
Assist in architecting how Starlink satellite assets will integrate with more traditional ground networks
Mentor and train junior network engineers