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.
IT SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR, LAUNCH
SpaceX is looking for a highly skilled and knowledgeable IT Systems Administrator to support the networking, compute administration, and application support needs of our launch environment. This role will be pivotal to the enablement of safe and sustained launch cadence, directly supporting our goals of making humanity a multiplanetary species. Candidate must be comfortable working on mission-critical systems with a sense of urgency appropriate to the responsibilities while maintaining attention to detail and operational excellence.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Augment and deploy new IT infrastructure, including networking, server, and desktop hardware directly supporting mission critical networks across the country.
- Perform periodic systems upgrades and patches in between critical operations, sometimes on weekends and evenings.
- Monitor IT services and respond aggressively to incidents to maintain systems performance.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to proactively identify and resolve potential technical issues with systems deployments.
- Author and maintain documentation for IT systems, from systems overview documents and design drawings to procedures.
- Leverage automation tools and contribute to IT systems engineering efforts.
- Ensure that systems are configured and maintained in compliance with industry and cybersecurity standards (e.g. ITAR, ISO, NIST).
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- High school diploma or equivalency certificate.
- 3+ years of experience in IT systems administration.
- Hands-on experience with Linux or Windows server administration.
- Experience with enterprise network administration and deployment.
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Working knowledge of network protocols (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, SNMP, NTP, PTP etc), firewalls administration and cybersecurity technologies.
- Proficiency in scripting (Bash/Powershell/Python) and automation frameworks (Terraform, Ansible, Puppet).
- Familiarity with Active Directory and multi-platform authentication/identification environments.
- Experience with virtualization platforms and tools.
- Understanding of Layer 1 configuration best practices and multiplexing technologies.
- Working knowledge, including the ability to setup, configure, upgrade, manage, and troubleshoot, Windows-based systems and services (i.e. SCCM, Active Directory).
- Exposure to real-time systems and industrial telemetry networks.
- Experience with configuration management, provisioning, infrastructure as code, and other DevOps concepts and tools.
- Excellent communications skills with the ability to communicate with internal/external customers, vendors, management etc. in both formal and informal situations.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be willing to work extended hours, weekends, and night shifts as launch manifest dictates.
- Must have valid driver's license.
- Ability to pass Air Force background check for Cape Canaveral.
- Willing to be on after-hours on-call rotation.
- Willing to travel (up to 20%) and potential time at sea supporting marine systems.
- Ability to lift up to 30lbs. unassisted
- Ability to work at heights.
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
- 3+ years of experience in IT systems administration
- Hands-on experience with Linux or Windows server administration
- Experience with enterprise network administration and deployment
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.
