Software Engineer, Vehicle Operations (Starshield)

SpaceX•Hawthorne, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

As an engineer working on the Starshield GNC Software Operations team, you will write software responsible for facilitating highly reliable, available, and autonomous operations of the Starshield constellation that enable us and our vehicles to work more efficiently. In addition to developing software, you'll also be involved in day-to-day constellation performance monitoring and on-orbit investigations. This demands good systems knowledge of the holistic satellite network and the hardware that makes our vehicles work. Our software engineers work closely with a variety of other engineering disciplines in order to diagnose on orbit issues, determine suitable recovery procedures, and implement long term solutions. Aerospace experience is not required to be successful here, although an engineer with good systems intuition in addition to strong software skills will excel in this role. We look for engineers who love solving problems and seek to make an impact on an inspiring mission, bringing fresh ideas from all areas.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in computer science, aerospace engineering, physics or another engineering discipline
Software development experience in C, C++, Python, or other similar programming languages

Nice To Haves

Master's degree or Ph.D. in an engineering discipline, computer science, or physics
Experience working on interdisciplinary engineering projects (software interacting with hardware; hardware interacting with other hardware; testing automation or harnessing)
Software development experience in a Linux environment
Ability to intuit about physical systems
General exposure to the disciplines necessary for spacecraft flight with practical experience in real-world development of complicated hardware-software systems
Experience or strong interest in satellite telemetry and alerting systems, full-stack operations tooling, autonomous fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR), and command and control
Ability to communicate effectively and work creatively in a dynamic environment with changing needs and requirements
Knowledge of computer architecture, networks, and inter-process communications (RESTful APIs, gRPC, etc.)
Understanding of version control, testing, continuous integration, build, deployment, and monitoring
Experience with data visualization techniques and web development (both front-end and back-end)
Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance, or the ability and willingness to obtain one

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and implement highly reliable and performant algorithms, flight software, simulations, tools, services, and dashboards
Act as a cross-disciplinary expert supporting cradle-to-grave development efforts for new features and capabilities
Lead on-orbit satellite operations through all phases of flight and perform on-call rotations, satellite commanding, and data reviews to keep our vehicles, payloads, and networks continuously operating
Detect and triage emerging on-orbit anomalies across all satellite subsystems, driving investigations and implementing future autonomous responses
Work closely with engineers from adjacent disciplines (mechanical, thermal, software, test engineering, guidance control navigation, network engineering) to deliver reliable connectivity and new capabilities to our users

Benefits

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
3 weeks of paid vacation
10 or more paid holidays per year
Paid sick leave
10% differential for active clearance holders, up to an additional $20,000 annually