← Back to results

Sr. Site Reliability Engineer (Starshield)

Join SpaceX as a Sr. Site Reliability Engineer to develop automation and manage compute resources for national security efforts.

Location
Hawthorne, CA
Compensation
$165k–$230k/yr
Level
senior
Type
full time

Posted by employer 3 months ago

First seen on Joblaze 3 months ago

Last verified on the company career page 1 day ago

Requirements

Experience
5+ years
Education
Bachelor's degree

Not disclosed in this posting: work arrangement, visa sponsorship.

Benefits

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

Joblaze summary

The Sr. Site Reliability Engineer at SpaceX's Starshield program focuses on developing and managing robust infrastructure for secure satellite operations, ensuring high reliability and scalability. Key skills include extensive experience with Linux, Kubernetes, and scripting languages like Python, alongside a strong understanding of automation and cloud management. This role is ideal for seasoned engineers with a passion for problem-solving and a desire to contribute to national security efforts through innovative technology. The team emphasizes collaboration and is open to diverse backgrounds, valuing fresh perspectives in aerospace engineering.

Joblaze insights

  • Listed about 3 months ago — first seen on Joblaze June 18, 2026. Last confirmed on SpaceX's careers page October 7, 2026.
  • This exact title is also open at 2 other locations at SpaceX: Redmond, WA, Washington, DC.
  • Salary band is in line with the typical range for DevOps/SRE roles (median ~$165,000).
  • Starts above 39% of 84 comparable senior devops/sre roles in United States that list Kubernetes we track (median $165,000 across 39 companies). See Kubernetes salary trends
  • Kubernetes appears in 68.1% of 188 comparable senior devops/sre roles in United States; TCP/IP appears in 2.1% of 188 comparable senior devops/sre roles in United States.

Quick facts

What's the salary range?
SpaceX lists $165,000–$230,000 for this role.
How much experience is required?
At least 5 years of relevant experience for this Sr. Site Reliability Engineer (Starshield) role.
What's the tech stack?
Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: Ansible, Kubernetes, Linux, Python, TCP/IP, Terraform.
What seniority level is this role?
SpaceX targets senior candidates for this position.
Is this full-time or contract?
Full-time for this Sr. Site Reliability Engineer (Starshield) 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.

SR. SITE RELIABILITY ENGINEER (STARSHIELD)

Starshield leverages SpaceX’s Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts. While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use, with an initial focus on earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads. SpaceX’s satellite programs are pushing the boundaries of in-space capabilities. Our missions support scientific research, classified national security space and commercial opportunities. Software engineering and innovation is at the core of these programs.

The satellite software team is building highly reliable in-space mesh networks, designing secure systems to guarantee access to space, designing next-gen communication and sensing software, and more. Aerospace experience is not required to be successful here - we want our engineers to bring fresh ideas from all areas. We look for engineers who love solving problems and seek to make an impact on an inspiring mission. As we expand this team, we're looking for versatile, motivated, and collaborative engineers.

Our team is involved in designing the vehicle systems at every phase of development. We build tools that enable us to work more efficiently, and that help us build software systems that are secure, reliable, and autonomous. Our software engineers are responsible for the life cycle of the software they create, including development, testing, and operational support.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Develop automation to deploy and manage compute resources both on-premises and in the cloud
  • Deploy and manage core infrastructure such as databases, monitoring and storage
  • Closely collaborate with software engineers to create highly scalable, operable and maintainable products
  • Engage in and improve the whole lifecycle of services -- from inception and design, through deployment, operation and refinement

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems/IT, or an engineering discipline and 5+ years of professional experience with Linux operating systems; OR 7+ years of professional experience in software, DevOps, or site reliability engineering in lieu of a degree
  • 5+ year of experience with Kubernetes
  • 5+ year of experience with Linux operating systems
  • Experience in Bash, Python, and/or other scripting languages

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • 5+ years of experience with Python and Python-based development frameworks
  • Experience managing Kubernetes clusters, not just using them
  • Knowledge of Linux boot process and systems configuration
  • Deep understanding of testing, continuous integration, build, deployment & continuous monitoring
  • Understanding of relevant build technologies, such as Bazel and Makefiles
  • Focus on performance bottlenecks and performance improvement techniques
  • Understanding of distributed databases and data modeling
  • Experience with automatically managing dozens, hundreds, or thousands of servers (eg: Terraform or Ansible)
  • Strong networking knowledge of TCP/IP
  • Excellent communications skills with the ability to communicate with customers, peers, management etc. in both formal and informal situations
  • Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

  • Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed
  • This position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment. While the clearance may not be immediately necessary upon hire, we encourage you to initiate the application process promptly upon accepting this offer. Your ability to secure the necessary clearance is essential for fulfilling key responsibilities of the role. Should you be unable to obtain it, SpaceX reserves the right to modify or terminate your employment to align with operational needs.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay Range:
Level 3: $165,000.00 - $270,000.00

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

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

Similar positions

SpaceX
SpaceX
SpaceX
Sr. Software Engineer (Starshield)
SpaceX · Hawthorne, CA
SpaceX
Software Engineer (Starshield)
SpaceX · Redmond, WA
SpaceX
Software Engineer (Starshield)
SpaceX · Hawthorne, CA