Propulsion Software Engineer (Falcon Engineering)

SpaceX • Hawthorne, CA

3d • $125,000 - $195,000

About The Position

The Propulsion Software Engineer on SpaceX’s Falcon Engineering team supports the long-term success of Falcon and its Merlin engines by improving hardware reliability and automating recurring engineering work. The role builds agentic AI systems, MCP servers, RAG-based search, data pipelines, dashboards, and other automation tools, choosing solutions suited to the problem. The engineer owns projects end to end: scoping needs with engineers, deploying tools, measuring their impact, and maintaining them as vehicles and processes evolve.

The role calls for hands-on experience with hardware such as engines, fluid systems, or structures, combined with software development skills. It also supports root-cause analysis and anomaly resolution by providing data- and model-driven insights to operations and hardware teams. The work affects Falcon hardware design and the operation of missions and engine tests.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, or physics; or 4+ years of professional experience in hardware engineering or engineering automation in lieu of a degree.
• At least 1 year of software development experience in Python, C/C++, or a similar language, focused on automation tools or AI integrations; professional and personal projects are applicable.
• At least 1 year of hands-on experience with engines, fluid systems, or structural hardware in design, test, or operations; professional, academic, and student team projects are applicable.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building agentic AI systems and multi-agent workflows, including prompt and context engineering, tool calling, MCP servers, and evaluation of LLM outputs.
• Comfort analyzing large time-series telemetry and sensor datasets in Python using pandas, NumPy, and SciPy, with working knowledge of numerical methods and signal processing.
• Strong SQL skills and experience with relational databases such as PostgreSQL, non-relational databases, vector databases, and REST API integrations.
• Proficiency developing on Linux with Git, automated testing, and CI/CD.
• Familiarity deploying containerized applications using Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience building web dashboards, such as React/TypeScript frontends with FastAPI or Flask backends.
• Hands-on experience testing liquid propellant rocket engines or working with pressurized fluid components such as valves, regulators, and pneumatic systems.
• Familiarity with liquid propellant engine cycles, launch vehicle fluid systems, and launch vehicle structures.
• Understanding of compressible and incompressible flow, thermodynamics, thermochemistry, mechanics, and materials.
• Ability to read P&IDs and instrumentation drawings and relate them to vehicle telemetry.
• Experience supporting integrated vehicle, pad, or launch operations.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Falcon and Merlin hardware engineering teams to identify manual, repetitive, and error-prone work and scope automation tools.
• Build automation and data pipelines to process engineering data, including telemetry, hardware design databases, configuration files, and manufacturing and test records; streamline reviews, flag anomalies, and surface insights.
• Develop agentic AI systems, multi-agent workflows, and MCP servers that let engineers query, analyze, and act on data across internal systems.
• Build internal web dashboards displaying mission status, open work, and data review results.
• Test and validate tools thoroughly, including evaluating AI outputs against known-good results, to support trust in a flight-critical environment.
• Support anomaly resolution by working directly with engineers across Falcon sub-components to improve time-to-insight.
• Participate in and lead architecture, design, and code reviews.
• Collaborate with engineers across the company to extend and improve interoperability among existing tools.

Benefits

• Potential eligibility for long-term incentives in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards.
• Potential discretionary bonuses.
• Ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
• Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage.
• Access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
• Short- and long-term disability insurance.
• Life insurance.
• Paid parental leave.
• Various other discounts and perks.
• May accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation.
• Eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year.
• Paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level