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. HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING (HPC) SYSTEMS ENGINEER
SpaceX is looking for an HPC Systems Engineer with strong knowledge and experience in a world class engineering organization. This employee will be a member of the HPC team and will support SpaceX personnel and proprietary systems. The ideal candidate will be flexible and flourish in a fast paced and challenging environment. They should be a self-starter, self-motivator and possess ingenuity to excel at this position.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Administer and manage HPC clusters, storage systems, and high-speed networks
- Provide application support to SpaceX employees across engineering disciplines
- Install and integrate Linux-based compute clusters
- Write instructional documentation and convey highly technical ideas in non-technical terms
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or scientific discipline and 5+ years of systems engineering experience; OR 7+ years of professional experience building software in lieu of a degree
- 5+ years of hands-on experience with client and server hardware/software, management tools, enterprise networking, virtualization, and security technologies
- Experience with Kubernetes
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- 5+ years of professional experience building, deploying and troubleshooting Linux systems
- Experience with a scripting language (Bash, Python) to automate and solve reoccurring tasks
- Experience building, deploying and troubleshooting HPC clusters
- Familiarity with cluster resource managers (Slurm, PBS, LSF)
- Experience with monitoring and alerting technologies (Prometheus, Grafana, Nagios)
- Familiarity with scientific and engineering computing (CFD, FEA)
- Familiarity with large scale AI training
- Familiarity with GPU usage in a compute cluster and Cuda
- Experience with containers (Docker, Podman, Singularity)
- Experience deploying and maintaining automated configuration management software (Puppet, Ansible)
- Comfortable working with mission critical and sensitive systems, with a sense of urgency appropriate to the responsibilities
- Eligibility for access to classified material up to TS/SCI with Polygraph
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
Pay Range:
Sr. HPC Systems Engineer: $165,000.00-$230,000.00/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. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.
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 and 5+ years systems engineering experience OR 7+ years professional software-building experience in lieu of degree
- 5+ years hands-on experience with client and server hardware/software, management tools, enterprise networking, virtualization, and security technologies
- Experience with Kubernetes
- Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed
- Meet ITAR eligibility (U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, or eligible for required authorizations)
- 5+ years building, deploying and troubleshooting Linux systems
- Experience with a scripting language (Bash, Python) for automation
- Experience building, deploying and troubleshooting HPC clusters
- Familiarity with cluster resource managers (Slurm, PBS, LSF)
- Experience with monitoring and alerting technologies (Prometheus, Grafana, Nagios)
- Familiarity with scientific and engineering computing (CFD, FEA)
- Familiarity with large scale AI training and GPU usage in compute clusters
- Experience with CUDA
- Experience with containers (Docker, Podman, Singularity)
- Experience deploying and maintaining configuration management (Puppet, Ansible)
- Comfortable working with mission-critical and sensitive systems with appropriate sense of urgency
- Eligibility for access to classified material up to TS/SCI with Polygraph
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.
