Summary written by USA Jobs 24 from SpaceX's advert and our data on 16,959 current US jobs. How we check every job
At a glance
SpaceX is hiring a Site Reliability Engineer (Starlink) in Hawthorne, CA; Palo Alto, CA +1. It is a full-time role in Software & IT, asking for at least 1 year of experience, first listed on November 6. The advertised pay is $135,000–$160,000 a year. The description mentions Linux, Python, Kubernetes, C#, Java and Scala. SpaceX has 149 other openings in the US, 32 of them in Hawthorne, CA. Across all employers on USA Jobs 24 there are 19 Software & IT openings in Hawthorne, CA today; the typical one asks for 2 years and advertises about $143,000 a year at the midpoint.
How the pay compares
SpaceX advertises $135,000 to $160,000 a year, a midpoint of $147,500 a year. Where an offer lands in a range usually depends on experience and on the exact location. That is lower than about 87% of the 1,340 software & IT jobs in California that publish a yearly rate on USA Jobs 24, where the typical midpoint is $211,000 a year. To see roughly what this leaves after federal and California tax, try our take-home pay calculator.
Skills in this advert
How often each skill named in this advert appears across the 4,624 software & IT jobs we list today. Python is the most widely requested (31% of jobs), while Scala is the least common (2%). Widely requested skills are what employers expect as a baseline; rarer ones show what is special about this job.
Paste your resume and this advert into our resume match tool to see which of these words your resume already covers.
Before you apply
- Check it is still open. We found this job on SpaceX's Greenhouse site on November 6 and checked it again November 6, 5:17 AM ET. When an employer takes a job down, we remove it at our next daily update.
- Check the location works for you. This role is based in Hawthorne, CA (or one of 2 other locations). If you would need to move, ask whether relocation help is offered.
- Entry-level friendly. The advert is open to people early in their career. Our guide to entry-level jobs covers what to put on a first resume.
- Tailor your resume. Use the advert's own words, such as Linux, Python and Kubernetes, wherever they are true for you. Our resume guide shows how.
- Know your number. Decide the lowest offer you would accept before the first call. Our salary negotiation guide explains how to ask for more.
- Apply only through SpaceX's own site. Our Apply button goes straight to SpaceX's Greenhouse page. If anyone contacts you about this job and asks for money, gift cards or bank details, stop and check it with our scam checker. Read how to spot a fake job offer.
About hiring at SpaceX
SpaceX has 150 openings on USA Jobs 24 today across 6 states. Most are in software & IT (75), operations (24) and engineering & mfg (18). The biggest locations are Brownsville, TX (34), Redmond, WA (34) and Bastrop, TX (33). None of them is fully remote, 35% are open to entry-level candidates and 52% show pay. We collect SpaceX's jobs every day straight from its own careers system (Greenhouse), never from job boards or agencies.
The employer's advert
This is SpaceX's own description of the job, copied word for word from its careers site. We have not edited it.
Show the full advert from SpaceXHide the advert867 words
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.
SITE RELIABILITY ENGINEER (STARLINK)
At SpaceX we’re leveraging our experience in building rockets and spacecraft to deploy Starlink, the world’s most advanced broadband internet system. Starlink is the world’s largest satellite constellation and is providing fast, reliable internet to 9M+ users worldwide. We design, build, test, and operate all parts of the system – thousands of satellites, consumer receivers that allow users to connect within minutes of unboxing, and the software that brings it all together. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of Starlink’s potential global impact and are looking for the world’s best engineers to help maximize Starlink’s utility for communities and businesses around the globe.
As a Site Reliability Engineer on the Starlink program, you will be solving challenges that improve our ability to fully utilize the hardware we have deployed. Our goal is to provide customers with the best possible satellite internet experience, often providing under-served communities with affordable, life-changing broadband internet access.
Aerospace experience is not required for success here - rather, we look for smart, motivated, and collaborative site reliability engineers who love solving problems and want to make an impact on a truly inspiring mission. You will have full ownership of challenging problems, working with a team of enthusiastic engineers to design and produce solutions that enable SpaceX to move towards our goals at a rapid pace. The success of the missions at SpaceX depends on the software that you and your team produce.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Upgrade existing distributed systems to become sharded and geo-redundant in multiple data centers
- Advance existing deployment, monitoring, and alerting infrastructure to support a multi-region environment
- Manage petabyte scale bare metal compute clusters
- Closely collaborate with engineers across all programs to create highly operable, scalable, and maintainable products
- Engage throughout the whole software development lifecycle of services -- from inception to design, deployment, operation, and iterative refinement
- Focus on performance bottlenecks and performance improvement techniques
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems/IT, or an engineering discipline and 1+ years of professional experience in systems administration, site reliability engineering, or DevOps; OR 3+ years of professional experience in systems administration, site reliability engineering, or DevOps in lieu of a degree
- 1+ years of professional experience with Linux operating systems
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- 1+ years of experience with Python and Python-based development frameworks
- Experience with Kubernetes and Istio for on-premise deployment
- Experience troubleshooting hardware and network-layer issues
- Programming experience in Python, C#, Java, Scala, Go or similar languages
- Good understanding of version control, testing, continuous integration, build, deployment and monitoring
- Strong understanding of virtualization and hypervisor technologies
- Knowledge of Linux boot process and systems configuration
- Deep understanding of testing, continuous integration, build, deployment & continuous monitoring
- Experience with automatically managing dozens, hundreds, or thousands of servers (eg: Terraform or Ansible)
- Strong networking knowledge of TCP/IP
- Excellent communications skills with the ability to communicate with customers, peers, management etc. in both formal and informal situations
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Willing to work extended hours and weekends when needed
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
Pay Range:
Level 1: $135,000.00 - $160,000.00
Level 2: $155,000.00 - $195,000.00
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 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 EEOCompliance@spacex.com.
USA Jobs 24 copied this listing from SpaceX's official careers site on November 6, 2026 and checked it again November 6, 5:17 AM ET. SpaceX will never ask you to pay to apply or to buy equipment with a check they send you. If anyone does, it is a scam.
Something wrong with this listing? Tell us and we will look into it.
Get software & IT jobs in California by email
Similar software & IT jobs in Hawthorne, CA
HVAC Controls Engineer
SpaceX
Participate in initial equipment conceptual development and carefully balance product specifications, process requirements, layout complexity, cost, and lead-time limits
- Hawthorne, CA
- $100,000–$130,000 a year
New Entry levelSite Reliability Engineer (Starlink)
SpaceX
Upgrade existing distributed systems to become sharded and geo-redundant in multiple data centers. Advance existing deployment, monitoring, and alerting infrastructure to support a…
- Redmond, WA; Hawthorne, CA +1
- $140,000–$165,000 a year
New Entry levelSite Reliability Engineer (Starlink)
SpaceX
Upgrade existing distributed systems to become sharded and geo-redundant in multiple data centers. Advance existing deployment, monitoring, and alerting infrastructure to support a…
- Palo Alto, CA; Hawthorne, CA +1
- $150,000–$175,000 a year
New Entry levelSpace Operations Software Engineer
SpaceX
Develop highly reliable software solutions that are used across SpaceX
- Hawthorne, CA
- $125,000–$160,000 a year
NewSoftware Engineer, Telemetry - Top Secret Clearance (Starlink)
SpaceX
Design, build, and operate a highly reliable, distributed telemetry platform capable of ingesting, processing, storing, and querying data at petabyte scale
- Hawthorne, CA
- $135,000–$160,000 a year
New