Principal Software Engineer, CDN (Starlink)

SpaceX

Quick summary

Work type: On-site
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Salary: $210,000–$295,000 / yr
Posted: today

Market check

Salary context

Above market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $175k

This role $252k

$110k most similar roles pay here $315k

This role pays more than 89% of similar roles. Most pay $135,000–$214,500 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $252k versus about $175k for comparable roles.

Based on 237 similar postings.

Employer

About SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft with the mission of enabling humans to become a multi-planetary species. It operates the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, as well as the Starlink satellite internet constellation.

SpaceX currently has 604 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $130,000–$155,000 across 440 roles with salary data.

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View all roles at SpaceX

At a glance

TL;DR · Principal Software Engineer, CDN (Starlink)

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The Principal Software Engineer role at Starlink's CDN team involves designing and scaling a new Content Delivery Network to support the company’s global expansion. This senior-level position requires building robust, scalable distributed systems and developing tools for real-time diagnostics and maintenance of complex, business-critical infrastructure. Key responsibilities include optimizing hardware utilization, implementing traffic shaping across multiple CDNs, and participating in architecture reviews. The ideal candidate should have extensive experience with C, C++, or Rust, as well as expertise in distributed systems, edge networking, DNS, and network optimization techniques. This role demands a deep understanding of network topology and convex optimization to address the challenges of serving billions of users worldwide.

Skills

C C++ Rust Distributed Systems CDN Networking Edge Networking DNS Traffic Management Caching Load Balancing SSL/TLS DDoS Protection Monitoring Network Topology Numerical Optimization Graph Theory Convex Optimization CI/CD

What you'll do

Design, build, and scale a new Content Delivery Network (CDN) for Starlink.
Build robust, responsive, and scalable distributed systems for CDN operations.
Develop tools and alerting mechanisms to diagnose and maintain complex systems in real-time.
Design algorithms to optimize hardware utilization and cost efficiency for CDNs.
Implement traffic shaping systems across multiple CDNs to ensure efficient data distribution.

What we're looking for

10+ years of professional software development experience or equivalent education and experience.
Experience in designing, building, and scaling distributed systems and CDN systems.
Proficiency in C, C++, or Rust for software development.
Professional networking experience with a focus on complex networking systems (layers 0-7).
Knowledge in Edge Networking, DNS, Traffic Management, SSL/TLS, DDoS protection, and monitoring.
Developed scalable software used in real-world applications and projects.