Software Engineer, Linux Kernel (Starlink)
About The Position
As a member of SpaceX’s Platform Core team, the Software Engineer will work on the lowest layers of software for devices supporting supercomputing and network fabric capabilities. The team’s software interfaces directly with the supercomputer’s core hardware and network fabric. The role includes building and maintaining a lean, high-reliability Linux-based operating system for the supercomputer network fabric and Starlink laser mesh of satellites, developing high-performance device drivers, and operating and improving the platform in production. The engineer will also collaborate with hardware teams and external partners to design new supercomputer hardware and bring up the operating system and software stack on it.
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 track record of developing and optimizing device or peripheral drivers, ideally for high-speed interfaces or with considerations such as DMA and cache coherency.
- Understanding of peripheral hardware interface standards such as Ethernet, PCIe, I2C, and SPI; ability to review schematics and debug these interfaces if needed.
- Experience with product security, OS/system hardening, and secure boot schemes.
Responsibilities
- Build and maintain a lean, high-reliability Linux-based operating system underpinning the supercomputer network fabric and Starlink laser mesh of satellites.
- Write or rewrite high-performance device drivers to maximize the physical capability of network and compute hardware.
- Manage deployment, operation, and debugging of the platform in production.
- Investigate and resolve anomalies, determine root causes, and improve system reliability.
- Develop and continually 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 coverage.
- Vision coverage.
- 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.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
