Software Engineer, Backend

SpaceX

Confirmed live today High trust

Quick summary

Work type
On-site
Location
Hawthorne, CA
Salary
$125,000–$150,000 / yr
Posted
2 days ago
Freshness
Confirmed live today

Market check

Salary context

Below market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $179k
This role $138k
$114k most similar roles pay here $229k

This role pays less than 76% of similar roles. Most pay $141,087–$217,829 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $138k versus about $179k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 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 729 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $130,000–$165,000 across 479 roles with salary data.

Most-posted roles

View all roles at SpaceX

At a glance

TL;DR · Software Engineer, Backend

As a Software Engineer, Backend (Python/C++), you will join the test infrastructure team to design, develop, and maintain an in-house testing ecosystem for flight systems. You will build and evolve core test infrastructure frameworks and supporting applications used for production testing, integration testing, and high-fidelity simulations. The role involves improving the reliability, performance, and safety of test software while collaborating with flight software engineers to create scalable tools that accelerate vehicle production. Key technical requirements include proficiency in C/C++ and Python, along with experience in telemetry-based software, build systems like Make or Bazel, and package management via pip or npm. Additional relevant skills include knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, and Ansible. You will solve critical engineering challenges by developing tools that ensure mission success for various vehicle programs through advanced testing and AI tooling.

What does a Software Engineer earn in California?

Median $214000 from 777 postings across 68 companies.

See salary data

What you'll do

  • Design, develop, and maintain the core test infrastructure framework and supporting applications.
  • Build tools for production testing, integration testing, and high-fidelity simulations.
  • Improve the reliability, performance, and safety of internal test software and infrastructure.
  • Develop new features and improve user experiences based on feedback from flight software engineers.
  • Own all aspects of software engineering and product development for the test infrastructure.
  • Identify and create efficient solutions to solve complex problems faced by internal users.
  • Build AI tooling to improve engineering capacity and developer experience through SpaceXAI.

What we're looking for

  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or scientific discipline, or 2+ years of professional software experience.
  • 1+ years of experience with C/C++.
  • 1+ years of experience with Python.
  • Experience developing telemetry-based software (preferred).
  • Expertise in designing software systems (preferred).
  • Front-end experience in Angular, React, or similar JavaScript framework (preferred).
  • Deep understanding of testing, continuous integration, build, deployment, and monitoring (preferred).
  • Understanding of agentic workflows and utilizing AI to improve developer experience (preferred).

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