← Back to results

Security Engineer (Detection Engineering)

Join SpaceX as a Security Engineer to enhance detection capabilities against sophisticated adversaries in a mission-critical environment.

Location
Redmond, WA
Compensation
$130k–$180k/yr
Level
mid
Type
full time · On-site

Posted by employer 3 months ago

First seen on Joblaze 3 months ago

Last verified on the company career page 1 day ago

Skills & Technologies

Requirements

Experience
2+ years
Education
Bachelor's degree
Visa
Sponsorship available

Benefits

401k Match Paid Vacation Equity/Stock Options Paid Holidays Health Insurance Parental Leave

Joblaze summary

In this role, the Security Engineer focuses on enhancing detection capabilities to safeguard SpaceX's critical technologies from sophisticated threats. Key responsibilities include developing automation workflows, improving security detection mechanisms, and collaborating with system owners to address visibility gaps. This position is ideal for candidates with a background in security engineering or incident response, particularly those familiar with programming languages like Python or Go. The role operates within a high-stakes environment dedicated to advancing space exploration.

Joblaze insights

  • Listed about 3 months ago — first seen on Joblaze July 26, 2026. Last confirmed on SpaceX's careers page November 2, 2026.
  • Salary band is below the typical range for Security roles (median ~$170,000).
  • Starts above 8% of 51 comparable mid security roles in United States that list Python we track (median $133,600 across 22 companies). See Python salary trends
  • Python appears in 41% of 212 comparable mid security roles in United States; Kubernetes appears in 7.5% of 212 comparable mid security roles in United States.

Quick facts

Is the Security Engineer (Detection Engineering) role remote?
No — this is an on-site role in Redmond, WA.
What's the salary range?
SpaceX lists $130,000–$180,000 for this role.
How much experience is required?
At least 2 years of relevant experience for this Security Engineer (Detection Engineering) role.
Where is the role based?
SpaceX is hiring for this position in Redmond, WA.
What's the tech stack?
Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: C++, Go, Kubernetes, Python, Rust.
Does SpaceX sponsor work visas for this role?
Yes — the posting indicates visa sponsorship is available for the right candidate.
What seniority level is this role?
SpaceX targets mid-level candidates for this position.
Is this full-time or contract?
Full-time for this Security Engineer (Detection Engineering) role at SpaceX.

From the original posting

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.

SECURITY ENGINEER (DETECTION ENGINEERING)

SpaceX is targeted by sophisticated adversaries determined to disrupt or obtain the cutting-edge technology it develops. SpaceX is hiring a Security Engineer to join the security operations Blue Team to build the capabilities needed to detect and respond to these adversaries. The environment in which you will operate is used to launch rockets and control spacecraft. You will be tasked with developing the tooling and data delivery mechanisms the security operations team will use to catch these threat actors in this environment before they can disrupt or deny SpaceX’s mission.

Your output will be developing solutions to address visibility gaps while bolstering the resilience of internally developed tooling to ensure maximum uptime for detecting threats. Your work may involve creating automation workflows to drive down time to triage security detections, developing a service to pull in new datasets or enrich existing ones, and finally helping the SOC respond and address visibility gaps from an incident. If you are interested in detecting and disrupting sophisticated threat actors in order to secure SpaceX’s mission to Mars, let’s talk!

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Build and improve existing security detection mechanisms and automation frameworks that directly drive what the Security Operations Center detects.
  • Engage with relevant owners of high-risk systems and services to identify and prioritize detection gaps.
  • Investigate anomalous or suspicious behavior in the environment as it is identified in the detection engineering process.
  • Participate in adversary emulation activities to identify detection gaps in the environment.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in security engineering, computer science, cyber security, engineering, math, or other STEM discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience in incident response, security operations, or security engineering role in lieu of a degree
  • Experience with any modern programming language, including but not limited to: Python, Go, C++, Rust.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • Experience performing Incident Response related tasks or being a part of a role directly contributing to a CSIRT team.
  • Experience building Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) pipelines from diverse systems to optimize logging formats for threat detection.
  • Demonstrated ability to support and manage services in a Kubernetes (k8s) environment, ensuring high availability and reliability through monitoring, alerting, and infrastructure automation.
  • Knowledge of traditional Security Operations environments and response procedures, including modern security information and event management (SIEM) systems.
  • Knowledge of common Red Team and Adversarial attack trends and techniques, and the evidence sources needed to investigate.
  • Knowledge of common attack trends or techniques, and the evidence sources needed to investigate.
  • Familiarity with enterprise security controls and best practices for Windows, Linux, and/or macOS systems.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

  • Must be able to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
  • This role requires you to be fully onsite. Remote or hybrid work will not be considered.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay Range:
Level 1: $130,000.00 - $155,000.00
Level 2: $150,000.00 - $180,000.00

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Employees in Washington State accrue paid sick time in compliance with state and federal law. Company shuttles are offered to employees for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the SpaceX Redmond office Monday to Friday.

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

Standard company text repeated across SpaceX's postings is omitted here.

Similar positions

SpaceX
Security Engineer (Blue Team)
SpaceX · Redmond, WA
SpaceX
Security Engineer (Blue Team)
SpaceX · Hawthorne, CA
SpaceX
SpaceX
SpaceX