below marketmost similar roles pay hereabove market
This role pays more than
68%
of similar roles. Most pay
$151,000–$201,600
— the blue band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$192k
versus about
$176k
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
851 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$130,000–$165,000
across 590 roles with salary data.
The Sr. Software Engineer (Platform Team) joins the team responsible for building foundational tooling and security infrastructure to empower the organization to harness AI effectively. You will design and scale secure gateways, proxy systems, and platforms that convert engineering know-how into tested software, automation, and reliable data stores. Key responsibilities include leading the architecture of AI platforms, onboarding frontier models, expanding compute capacity, and developing risk-mitigation tools like intelligent code review and PR assistants. The role requires proficiency in Python and experience with languages such as Go, Java, TypeScript, or Rust. You will utilize Docker, Kubernetes, and infrastructure-as-code to manage integrations across multiple cloud and frontier model providers. This position solves the technical challenge of providing reliable, high-impact AI capabilities and secure, scalable infrastructure for high-volume usage.
What does a Software Engineer earn in Washington?
Median $202800 from 409 postings across 38 companies.
Design and implement secure, scalable AI platforms and proxy systems for company-wide use.
Own complex platform initiatives from technical strategy and implementation through testing and deployment.
Onboard new frontier models and expand compute resources while optimizing proxy systems for performance and security.
Develop and scale risk-mitigation tools such as AI-powered code reviews and PR automation.
Identify high-value opportunities to convert engineering problems into tested software and reliable data stores.
Define best practices for lean, secure applied AI to maximize the conversion of engineering expertise into automation.
Build shared products, prompts, and infrastructure to enable rapid adoption of AI tools across the organization.
What we're looking for
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or another engineering discipline and 5+ years of professional experience building production software.
7+ years of professional experience building production software in lieu of a degree.
Experience developing and operating production platforms such as AI/ML infrastructure, developer platforms, or large-scale backend systems.
Must be a U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, or eligible for required Department of State authorizations.
Proven success building and scaling internal AI gateways, secure proxy systems, or MLOps platforms in a fast-paced environment (preferred).
Deep hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, security architecture, and integrations across multiple cloud and frontier model providers (preferred).
Proficiency in Python and strong experience with additional languages like Go, Java, TypeScript, or Rust (preferred).
Experience with infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD, and building highly reliable distributed systems (preferred).
AI
MLOps
Python
Docker
Kubernetes
Go
Java
TypeScript
Rust
CI/CD
infrastructure-as-code
Distributed Systems
Security Architecture
Observability
Proxy Systems