Software Engineer, Linux Kernel (Starlink)

SpaceX•Palo Alto, CA

About The Position

As a member of the Platform Core team, the Software Engineer will develop the lowest layers of the software stack for SpaceX’s supercomputer network fabric and Starlink laser mesh of satellites. The role focuses on building and maintaining a lean, high-reliability Linux-based operating system, developing high-performance device drivers, and supporting the platform in production. The engineer will collaborate with hardware teams and external partners to bring up the operating system and software stack on next-generation supercomputer hardware.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, or a science discipline, or at least 2 years of professional software-development experience in lieu of a degree; internship experience is applicable.
Hands-on system programming experience in C or C++.

Nice To Haves

Deep knowledge of the Linux kernel and its networking stack, or experience with another production-grade kernel.
Proficiency with debugging tools spanning kernel, network, and userspace, such as ftrace, perf, Wireshark/tcpdump, eBPF, and gdb.
Experience bringing up new hardware from scratch, such as flashing bare-metal software on a microcontroller with JTAG or bootstrapping a Linux kernel and root filesystem on new hardware.
A demonstrated track record of developing and optimizing device or peripheral drivers, ideally for high-speed interfaces or with advanced considerations such as DMA and cache coherency.
Understanding of major peripheral hardware interface standards, including Ethernet, PCIe, I2C, and SPI; ability to critically review schematics and debug these interfaces if needed.
Experience with product security, operating-system or system hardening, and secure-boot schemes.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain a lean, high-reliability Linux-based operating system for the supercomputer network fabric and Starlink satellite laser mesh.
Write or rewrite high-performance device drivers to maximize the capabilities of network and compute hardware.
Manage deployment, operation, and debugging of the platform in production.
Investigate and root-cause anomalies to continually improve system reliability.
Develop and improve observability and configuration-management tools.
Collaborate with hardware teams and external partners to design next-generation supercomputer hardware and bring up the operating system and software stack on it.

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.
Accrual of 3 weeks of paid vacation.
10 or more paid holidays per year.
Washington State employees accrue paid sick time in compliance with state and federal law.
Company shuttles for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the SpaceX Redmond office Monday to Friday.