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.
PRINCIPAL SECURITY SOFTWARE ENGINEER (BLUE TEAM)
SpaceX is hiring a principal security software engineer onto the blue team to help protect and drive the SpaceX mission. Our engineers are responsible for building innovative security solutions to protect against threats to our rockets, spacecraft, and our global satellite internet constellation, Starlink. As a highly visible and dynamic organization, we must value and guard against damage to our internal information, our physical hardware, and our reputation and brand. It is paramount that we defend against loss of control or confidence in our systems, to guarantee the highest probability of success.
As a Principal Security Software Engineer, you will focus on the "behind the scenes" technologies that ensure our networks and systems are up to industry and SpaceX standards. You will be responsible for providing high-criticality and high-risk services, with the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of those services in mind. This role will partner with various application development and customer groups across SpaceX to ensure that the technologies and systems we build in-house or purchase and deploy in-house are designed and maintained in a secure way that minimizes risk.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Design, build, and maintain technology solutions and systems that provide security for SpaceX systems, networks, and data. This can include:
- Authentication and identity related areas, including cryptographic primitives, trusted platform modules, and secure/trusted boot.
- Identity and machine lifecycle management services and automation. Build and maintain scripts and automation that support strong relationships between systems and their work roles, automated provisioning of systems, and establishing known running state.
- Network security systems and the backend infrastructure that powers such services.
- Application level security controls (e.g. web application firewalls).
- Cloud deployments security policy enforcement, centralized configuration management, monitoring, etc.
- Serve as the subject matter expert (SME) for those solutions, maintaining documentation on them and advising others on their underlying technologies and operation.
- Work with security and IT teams to identify threats and problem areas, using that feedback to further strengthen tools and technologies. Materialize this as improvements which result in stronger and safer software and application deployments across SpaceX, measuring in decreased risk and prevalence of issues.
- Create solutions that are scalable, repeatable, maintainable, and secure.
- Work collaboratively with other teams, including individuals in information security, physical security, information technology, human resources, legal, software, and others.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Development experience in any modern programming language (including but not limited to Python, C++, Rust, Go)
- Experience developing security architectures and primitives (i.e. TLS, Zero-Trust)
- 8+ years of professional experience in security engineering with a bachelor's degree in security engineering, cyber security, computer science, engineering, math, or other STEM discipline; OR 10+ years of professional experience in security engineering in lieu of a degree
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Experience building automation between tools and systems
- Experience performing analytics against aggregated log data, and building configurations to parse and handle log data from systems and tools
- Familiarity with enterprise security controls and security best practices for Windows, Linux, and Mac systems
- Familiarity with cloud security services, concepts, and best practices
- Strong familiarity with software development lifecycle (SDLC) processes and source control technologies
- Track record of getting things done quickly and with quality
- Demonstrated ability to operate in a dynamic, evolving environment
- Ethical character and uncompromised integrity
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
Pay range:
Principal Security Software Engineer: $220,500.00 - $270,000.00/per year
Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.
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, stock options, 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. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year.
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 notify the Human Resources Department at (310) 363-6000.
Top Skills
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.
