Sr. Server Hardware Systems Engineer (Starlink)

SpaceX • Bastrop, TX

3d

About The Position

SpaceX is hiring a Sr. Server Hardware Systems Engineer for Starlink’s Site Reliability Engineering team. Starlink’s network relies on servers in data centers and points of presence around the world. This role owns the health and lifecycle of that server fleet, from detecting and diagnosing hardware issues through repair, validation, and return to service. The engineer will build telemetry, alerting, and automation to help a small team operate a large and rapidly growing fleet, while coordinating with network operations, field technicians, hardware vendors, and data center partners.

The role also uses fleet reliability data to inform server design, selection, and qualification for new sites, across both commercial off-the-shelf and custom-designed platforms. It is primarily based in SpaceX offices rather than data center facilities, though time in the field with Starlink data center engineering teams is encouraged. The position requires extended hours and weekends as needed, on-call participation, and domestic and international travel to data centers and other Starlink sites. Candidates must be able to work in data center environments for extended periods and lift, push, and pull up to 50 pounds.

To comply with U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must meet the specified U.S. citizenship, immigration, refugee, or asylum status requirements, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems/IT, or an engineering discipline and at least 5 years of professional experience in systems administration, site reliability engineering, or DevOps; alternatively, at least 7 years of such professional experience in lieu of a degree.
• At least 3 years of professional experience troubleshooting and repairing enterprise server hardware in a production environment.
• At least 3 years of professional experience administering Linux systems.
• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed and participate in an on-call rotation for hardware issues.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally to data centers and other Starlink sites as needed, and to hold or obtain a valid passport.
• Ability to work in data center environments for extended periods, including standing, kneeling, and working in loud, variable-temperature conditions.
• Ability to lift, push, and pull 50 pounds.
• Must meet the stated U.S. Government export-control eligibility requirements or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations.

Nice To Haves

• At least 3 years of experience operating a large server fleet in production data center environments.
• Hands-on experience diagnosing and replacing server components such as CPUs, DIMMs, NVMe SSDs, NICs, transceivers, power supplies, and system boards.
• Experience with out-of-band management and baseboard management controllers such as HPE iLO, Dell iDRAC, or OpenBMC, using Redfish and IPMI.
• Proficiency with Linux hardware diagnostics, such as kernel and machine check logs, EDAC, ipmitool, smartctl, nvme-cli, and ethtool.
• Software development experience in Python or Go, including production tools, services, and automation.
• Experience building monitoring and alerting with Prometheus, Grafana, and Alertmanager, including custom exporters.
• Experience operating Kubernetes clusters and handling node lifecycle tasks such as cordoning, draining, and replacing nodes.
• Experience with server networking, including NICs, optics, cabling, and link-level troubleshooting.
• Experience managing vendor support cases, RMAs, and warranty processes, and coordinating remote hands across multiple data centers and time zones.
• Familiarity with firmware management, TPM enrollment, secure boot, UEFI, and server provisioning at scale.
• Experience designing operational workflows in ticketing systems and building dashboards for metrics such as MTTR and backlog size.
• Experience with server hardware qualification, burn-in testing, or new product introduction.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to drive work to completion across teams, vendors, and time zones.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple concurrent repairs across regions.
• Experience writing scripts or software in at least one language, such as Python, Go, or Bash.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end repair lifecycle for Starlink server hardware and components, including alert triage, component-level fault isolation, safe production removal, repair, validation, and return to service.
• Manage vendor support cases and coordinate on-site work with data center remote hands and field technicians, including parts delivery, site access, and return of failed parts for warranty replacement or failure analysis.
• Build software and automation for hardware telemetry and alerting, diagnostics, production drain and return, alert silencing, post-repair validation, and component-level tracking from detection to recovery.
• Define, measure, and report fleet hardware metrics, including p50 and p90 response, repair, and recovery times, backlog trends, and component failure rates; publish regular stakeholder updates.
• Write runbooks, methods of procedure, and training materials to help NOC and field technicians resolve common hardware incidents.
• Validate new server hardware before production use, including burn-in, firmware, and configuration checks.
• Use fleet failure trends to inform server design, selection, and qualification, and drive corrective action with vendors and hardware engineering.

What This Job Offers

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