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.
APPLICATION SOFTWARE ENGINEER, APPLIED AI
The application software team is the central nervous system of SpaceX – we create mission critical applications that are used throughout SpaceX to accelerate launch vehicle production and flight as well as systems that allow Starlink to grow into a worldwide fast, reliable Internet service. We are looking for engineers who treat fellow teammates with fairness, respect, and support.
In this Applied AI role within the Application Software team, you will design, evaluate, deploy, and integrate modern AI systems—including large language models and agentic systems—that power products and infrastructure across SpaceX. You will own the end-to-end lifecycle of AI capabilities from prototype to production while partnering closely with Product, Engineering, and Operations teams. We are looking for a strong software engineer with a proven track record of delivering AI products, including hands-on experience evaluating, deploying, and integrating AI solutions into real production systems.
Aerospace experience is not required – rather we look for smart, motivated, respectful, collaborative engineers who love solving problems and want to make an impact on a super inspiring mission. You will have full ownership of challenging problems, working with a team of enthusiastic engineers with diverse perspectives to design and produce solutions that enable SpaceX to move towards our goals at a rapid pace. The success of the missions at SpaceX depends on the software that you and your team produce.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Develop highly reliable software solutions used across SpaceX, including AI-powered applications that accelerate production, flight, and Starlink operations
- Create new applications that improve how SpaceX operates by incorporating modern large language models, agentic systems, and other AI capabilities
- Own the full lifecycle of Applied AI systems: design, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and iteration from prototype to production
- Deep dive into users’ problems to uncover high-leverage AI opportunities and deliver efficient, production-grade solutions
- Architect production systems for agentic workflows, tool-use, multi-agent orchestration, advanced retrieval, and long-context applications that prioritize reliability, safety, and responsible deployment
- Build and maintain rigorous evaluation frameworks (LLM-as-judge, automated benchmarks, online evaluation) and production observability/monitoring for AI quality, safety, latency, and cost
- Stay at the frontier of LLM techniques and rapidly incorporate emerging best practices into production systems across SpaceX programs
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or scientific discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience building software in lieu of a degree
- 1+ years of experience in full stack development
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Hands-on experience evaluating, deploying, and integrating AI models into production systems
- Proven track record of delivering (or significantly contributing to) end-to-end AI products or production AI-powered features
- Proven track record of shipping real-world AI products from prototype through production deployment and iteration
- Deep hands-on experience with modern LLM techniques: agentic systems, tool-use / function calling, multi-agent orchestration, advanced retrieval architectures, fine-tuning, and structured outputs
- Experience building production evaluation systems (LLM-as-judge, automated eval harnesses, A/B testing, red-teaming) and AI observability/monitoring (tracing, quality metrics, safety, cost)
- Experience designing and implementing production architecture for AI-powered applications with strong emphasis on reliability, safety, and responsible deployment
- Previous experience in AI product design, development, integration, testing, and productionization
- Strong software engineering foundation with expertise in designing production systems (including AI-powered and system-to-system architectures) and a track record of writing clean, maintainable code
- Programming experience in Python, C#.NET, Go, Scala, Java, or similar
- Production experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and modern data streaming (Kafka or similar)
- Front-end experience (Angular, React, or similar) and database experience (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or similar)
- Demonstrated ability to stay current with rapidly evolving AI technologies and best practices
- Ability to work under pressure and deliver results across multiple parallel priorities in a fast-paced, high-reliability environment
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- You may be asked to work extended hours/weekends dependent on launch cadence
- This role requires you to be onsite. Remote and/or hybrid work will not be considered
- Ability to pass Air Force background check for Cape Canaveral
ITAR REQUIREMENTS:
- To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to [email protected].
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or scientific discipline; OR 2+ years professional software experience in lieu of a degree
- 1+ years of experience in full stack development
- Ability to pass Air Force background check for Cape Canaveral
- This role requires you to be onsite. Remote and/or hybrid work will not be considered
- You may be asked to work extended hours/weekends dependent on launch cadence
- To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, Refugee, Asylee, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State (ITAR requirements)
- Hands-on experience evaluating, deploying, and integrating AI models into production systems
- Proven track record delivering end-to-end AI products or production AI-powered features
- Deep hands-on experience with modern LLM techniques: agentic systems, tool-use/function calling, multi-agent orchestration, advanced retrieval, fine-tuning, structured outputs
- Experience building production evaluation systems (LLM-as-judge, automated eval harnesses, A/B testing, red-teaming) and AI observability/monitoring (tracing, quality metrics, safety, cost)
- Strong software engineering foundation with expertise designing production systems and writing clean, maintainable code
- Programming experience in Python, C#.NET, Go, Scala, Java, or similar
- Production experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and modern data streaming (Kafka or similar)
- Front-end experience (Angular, React) and database experience (PostgreSQL, SQL Server or similar)
- Demonstrated ability to stay current with rapidly evolving AI technologies and best practices
- Ability to work under pressure and deliver results across multiple parallel priorities in a fast-paced, high-reliability environment
SpaceX Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about SpaceX and has not been reviewed or approved by SpaceX.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity grants are a core part of total compensation, with periodic company-run tender offers that create liquidity before any public listing. These mechanisms can make the equity component feel materially valuable in practice.
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Healthcare Strength — The package includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with on-site clinics and health resources at major sites. This breadth of coverage is presented as a strong element of the offering.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Major locations feature on-site amenities such as fitness facilities, food/coffee, clinics, and other conveniences. These lifestyle perks enhance day-to-day value alongside cash and equity.
SpaceX Insights
What We Do
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space transportation, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary. SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones. It is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in December 2010. The company made history again in May 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, exchanged cargo payloads, and returned safely to Earth — a technically challenging feat previously accomplished only by governments. Since then Dragon has delivered cargo to and from the space station multiple times, providing regular cargo resupply missions for NASA.
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