Propulsion Software Engineer (Falcon Engineering)

SpaceX • Hawthorne, CA

2d

About The Position

SpaceX’s Falcon Engineering team develops and operates Falcon launch vehicles and Merlin engines. The Propulsion Software Engineer builds software and automation that improve hardware reliability and reduce recurring engineering work. Solutions may include agentic AI systems, MCP servers, retrieval-augmented search, data pipelines, dashboards, and conventional automation where appropriate.

The engineer owns projects end to end, from scoping needs with hardware engineers through rollout, measuring time saved, and maintaining tools as vehicles and processes evolve. Hands-on experience with engines, fluid systems, or structures helps ensure that tools reflect real hardware behavior and failure modes. The role also supports anomaly resolution with data- and model-driven insights for high-consequence operations and hardware decisions.

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.
• 1+ years 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.
• 1+ years 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 tools to automate it.
• Build automation and data pipelines to process engineering data, including telemetry, hardware design databases, configuration files, and manufacturing and test records.
• 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 for mission status, open work, and data review results.
• Thoroughly test and validate tools, including evaluating AI outputs against known-good results for use 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 coverage.
• Vision coverage.
• Dental coverage.
• 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