{"id":3038012,"url":"https://alion.io/job/spacex-meteorologist-launch-operations","title":"Meteorologist (Launch Operations)","company":{"id":66,"name":"SpaceX","domain":"spacex.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/spacex","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":81,"open_postings":57,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.579,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":76,"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"}},"role":"Aerospace","role_family":"Aerospace","seniority":"middle","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Brownsville, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":79000,"max_usd":155000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":162},"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Grafana","optional":true},{"name":"InfluxDB","optional":true},{"name":"JavaScript","optional":true},{"name":"Linux","optional":true},{"name":"Python","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-21T21:18:20Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-21","last_verified_at":"2026-10-28T06:31:59Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":6,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":6},"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.\nMETEOROLOGIST (LAUNCH OPERATIONS)\nRESPONSIBILITIES\nServe as Launch Weather Officer (LWO) for orbital launch, return-to-launch-site, re-entry, recovery, and test operations-owning weather workflows from forecast, balloon, and sensor data through countdown, launch commit criteria, contingency response, and post-flight data review\nDevelop new decision-support forecast tools, integrate probabilistic forecast information into operator tools, and train operators and end-users of forecasts\nImprove launch availability by developing new weather tools, improving launch commit criteria, and coordination with SpaceX launch operations and the external weather stakeholders that support launch and re-entry operations\nLead projects on weather-sensor architecture, numerical weather prediction tools, launch commit criteria, including NASA LLCCs, and marine/recovery weather\nGenerate rocket launch, landing, and recovery forecasts against vehicle constraints, NASA Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (NASA-STD-4010), and 14 CFR Part 450 weather requirements\nConduct numerical weather prediction analysis and testing; interpret model guidance (NBM, GFS, RRFS, CMC, ECMWF, GraphCast, HAFS, and other AI and ensemble variants) against measured conditions and communicate results to launch/flight control, pad operations, recovery, and leadership\nDrive requirements, procurement, calibration, installation, quality control, and operational use of mesonets, electric-field mills, radar, weather balloons, and related instrumentation\nIntegrate the weather sensor suite and gridded model data into automation, dashboards, and decision-support tools\nCollaborate closely with peers, operators, Range, Recovery, Flight Safety, and external stakeholders to ensure reliable launch-weather support and drive initiatives that support Starship launch-rate growth\nSupport Dragon undock, re-entry, and splashdown weather, and marine forecasts for Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific recovery and vessel operations\nProvide nowcasts and alerts for hazardous weather including severe thunderstorms, lightning, tropical cyclones, flooding, marine, and heat risks\nRepresent SpaceX with NASA, United States Space Force range weather organizations, National Weather Service, and other core partners\nInterface with NASA Lightning Advisory Panel, FAA Common Standards Working Group, and other university research to operations groups to drive improvement in LLCC constraints for all launch and re-entry vehicles\nTravel to and operate from Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg, Starbase, Hawthorne, and other launch/test/development sites as missions and projects require\nBASIC QUALIFICATIONS\nBachelor's degree in meteorology, atmospheric science, or other nature science discipline\n3+ years of professional experience in operational forecasting, launch/range weather, numerical weather prediction, or weather decision support\nPREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE\nExperience as a Launch Weather Officer, range weather officer, or equivalent for orbital launch, aviation, or marine weather operations\nExperience presenting impact-based decision support forecasting to executive leadership and/or key decision-makers in operations\nDemonstrated experience communicating high-risk weather impacts on operations to executive leadership and key decision-makers; includes hurricanes, severe weather, launch forecasting, flooding, and other Impact-based Decision Support Services (IDSS) functions\nCombination of training and experience that has led to qualification as a forecaster by the National Weather Service or a U.S. or NATO military authority\nFamiliarity with NASA Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (NASA-STD-4010) and 14 CFR Part 450 weather constraints\nExperience with weather sensors (mesonets, electric-field mills, radar, weather balloons) from requirements through procurement, installation, calibration, and operational use\nExperience conducting model and forecast verification and familiarity with probabilistic modeling techniques\nFamiliarity with Linux, Python, JavaScript, InfluxDB, Grafana, or similar tools, and the ability to integrate gridded model data into weather communication tools\nAI-assisted programming or scripting associated with weather-sensor integration and automation\nMarine forecasting experience, including routing or recovery decision support\nBackground coordinating multi-vehicle or multi-site operations (orbital launch, RTLS, droneship or marine recovery, crew/cargo re-entry, or test flights) in a high-tempo environment\nExperience writing procedures, training, and briefings for operators and external stakeholders; comfort owning documentation and process reliability\nExperience building training or qualification programs for operations personnel\nAbility to obtain and maintain a security clearance\nStrong communication, emotional intelligence, and patience when negotiating difficult outcomes with partners under schedule pressure\nProblem-solving and critical thinking skills with comfort changing roles rapidly in a high-paced environment\nDevelopment and maintaining training, qualification, and onboarding programs for Launch Weather Officers and meteorology support, including off-nominal, severe-weather, and hurricane operations\nADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS\nAbility to pass Air Force background checks for Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral\nAbility to work at elevated heights and/or in tight spaces as needed for sensor or balloon operations\nMust be willing to travel, including extended periods at Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg, Starbase, and other sites\nMust be available to work extended hours, nights, weekends, and holidays when required by mission milestones\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":6938,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Satellite Communications","Launch Services","Satellite Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-21T21:52:38Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":63,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.632,"p_room":1,"age_days":6,"expected_fill_days":76,"reasons":["conf:4","stale_co","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacex-meteorologist-launch-operations","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacex-meteorologist-launch-operations.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-28T10:49:30Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":14121,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-29T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":66},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=66"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fspacex-meteorologist-launch-operations"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fspacex-meteorologist-launch-operations"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fspacex-meteorologist-launch-operations"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/spacex-meteorologist-launch-operations\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fspacex-meteorologist-launch-operations"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3038012}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"spacex.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3038012},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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