Principal Software Engineer (Platform Team)
$210,000–$295,000 year
On-site · Palo Alto, California, United States or Sunnyvale, California, United States
Job Summary
Principal Software Engineer (Platform Team) at SpaceX responsible for defining long-term technical vision and architecture for SpaceX’s AI platform and security infrastructure. Lead high-impact initiatives, oversee onboarding of frontier models and massive compute scaling, drive adoption at scale, and develop risk-mitigation capabilities (AI code review, automated PR tools, safety systems). Collaborate with leadership to align platform capabilities with SpaceX’s ambitious goals and deliver trusted, scalable solutions across the company.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or other engineering discipline and 7+ years of professional experience building and scaling production platforms; OR 9+ years of professional experience building and scaling production platforms in lieu of a degree
- Experience designing and operating large-scale AI/ML platforms, internal developer platforms, or mission-critical infrastructure
- Demonstrated success architecting and scaling AI gateways, secure proxy layers, or enterprise MLOps platforms that serve hundreds of users
- Expert-level experience with Docker/Kubernetes ecosystems, zero-trust security models, and multi-cloud/frontier-model integrations
- Deep expertise in MLOps, distributed compute, model lifecycle management, and building highly observable, reliable systems
- Strong history of enabling organization-wide impact through technical leadership, mentoring, and creation of shared platforms and standards
- Entrepreneurial leadership with a proven ability to spot and deliver transformative solutions
- Mastery of Python and broad expertise across modern languages and tooling
- Extensive experience with infrastructure-as-code, advanced observability, and building platforms that others love to use
- Deep passion for responsible AI, developer velocity, and converting deep engineering knowledge into reliable automation at planetary scale
Additional Requirements
- ITAR compliance: U.S. citizen or national, or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State
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