{"id":1691713,"url":"https://alion.io/job/spacenexus-sr-software-engineer-ai-infrastructure-starshield-4","title":"Sr. Software Engineer, AI Infrastructure (Starshield)","company":{"id":2086894,"name":"SpaceNexus","domain":"spacenexus.us","url":"https://alion.io/company/spacenexus","size_band":"1-10","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Schema","truth_index":null},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Redmond, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":165000,"max":270000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":270000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":7,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Ansible","optional":false},{"name":"Bash","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Go","optional":false},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":false},{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"SRE","optional":false},{"name":"Terraform","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":true},{"name":"TCP/IP","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-01T21:07:40Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-01","last_verified_at":"2026-10-04T01:46:51Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"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.\nSR. SOFTWARE ENGINEER, AI INFRASTRUCTURE (STARSHIELD)\nAt SpaceX we’re leveraging our experience in building rockets and spacecraft to deploy the Starshield constellation. Starshield is the world’s largest US government satellite constellation and is tasked with providing immediate access to critical intelligence and national security data for the US government anywhere on the globe. We design, build, test, and operate all parts of the system - receivers that allow users to connect within minutes, and the software that brings it all together. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of Starshield's global impact and are looking for best-in-class engineers to help us further our ambitious goals.\nAs an engineer focused on Starshield's software and GPU infrastructure, you will design, operate and scale the infrastructure which supports critical national security missions. These positions cover a variety of areas ranging from Site Reliability Engineering, Developer Operations, and GPU platforms. You will develop automation to deploy and manage on-premise compute resources, create highly scalable and maintainable software products, and directly collaborate with engineering across the board.\nRESPONSIBILITIES:\nManage GPU/CPU infrastructure deployments to Top Secret data centers\nManage and provide support for GPU as a service for external customers on bare metal hardware and virtualized platforms\nDesign, validate, and productize solutions for AI clusters (100k+ GPU scale)\nDevelop automation to deploy and manage on-premise KubernetesAI clusters, and operating systems\nDeploy and manage core infrastructure such as databases, monitoring and distributed storage\nClosely collaborate with AI engineers to create highly scalable, operable, and maintainable products\nEngage in and improve the whole lifecycle of services -- from inception and design, through deployment, operation and refinement\nMonitoring and alerting supporting systems to have high availability\nIdentify areas for improvement and create innovative solutions that enable high system availability\nMentor and train junior engineers\nAs a senior engineer you must lead the team to technical excellence - your decisions guide the team\nBASIC QUALIFICATIONS:\nBachelor’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\n5+ year of experience with Kubernetes\n5+ year of experience managing Linux operating systems\nExperience with Terraform, Ansible, or other infrastructure tools\nExperience with containerization technologies (i.e. OCI containers, Kubernetes)\nExperience scripting in Bash, Python, or other similar languages\nDevelopment experience in Python, C++, or Go\nPREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:\n5+ years of experience with Python and Python-based development frameworks\nExperience managing Kubernetes clusters, not just using them\nKnowledge of Linux boot process and systems configuration\nDeep understanding of testing, continuous integration, build, deployment & continuous monitoring\nUnderstanding of relevant build technologies, such as Bazel and Makefiles\nFocus on performance bottlenecks and performance improvement techniques\nUnderstanding of distributed databases and data modeling\nExperience with automatically managing thousands of servers (eg: Terraform or Ansible)\nStrong networking knowledge of TCP/IP\nCloud virtualization experience (as the cloud provider)\nExperience using NVIDIA GPU deployment stacks (Blackwell/Rubin)\nExcellent communications skills with the ability to communicate with customers, peers, management etc. in both formal and informal situations\nActive Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance\nADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:\nMust be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed\nMust be willing to travel domestically and globally in the future when needed\nThis 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.\nCOMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:\nPay Range:\nLevel 3: $165,000.00 - $270,000.00\nYour 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.\nBase 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 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 in Washington State accrue paid sick time in compliance with state and federal law. Company shuttles are offered to employees for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the SpaceX Redmond office Monday to Friday.\nThose with an active clearance will receive a 10% differential, up to an additional $20,000 annually, once officially briefed into a classified program.\nITAR REQUIREMENTS:\nTo 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 .\nSpaceX 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.\nApplicants 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  .","description_format":"text","description_chars":7124,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":7,"management_years_min":5,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Life insurance","Parental leave","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Space & Aerospace"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-02T11:02:01Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":99,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.993,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":10,"reasons":["conf:2","wave","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-03T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":270000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacenexus-sr-software-engineer-ai-infrastructure-starshield-4","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacenexus-sr-software-engineer-ai-infrastructure-starshield-4.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-04T02:55:17Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":4434,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":566,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-05T00:00:00Z"}}}