Operations Development Engineer (Starlink Network)

Redmond, WA

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.

OPERATIONS DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER (STARLINK NETWORK)

As a Network Operations Engineer, you will be responsible for engineering the operational systems and processes used to support the Starlink network as it scales to millions of users around the globe. Join the team operating the network that is revolutionizing global connectivity and internet access. The successful Network Operations Engineer will create the tools, technology and processes to maintain, operate and evolve the most advanced network in the solar system. You will work with subsystem responsible engineers, software engineers, guidance navigation and control engineers, and network engineers to develop alerts, mitigations, and upgrades to orbital and terrestrial assets and drive improvements to core Starlink systems. Through continuous improvement, you will drive process and automation upgrades to the point of minimal manual intervention. You will be responsible for the complete lifecycle of the projects you own, including development, testing, deployment and support.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Develop, implement and scale Starlink Network Operations processes and tools to provide global internet access
  • Work with development engineering teams to drive design for operations, addressing potential operational scaling issues early in development lifecycles and incorporating debugging tools and strategies to ensure effective handover to operations
  • Own and protect the overall Starlink customer experience, advocating for fast problem resolution with various teams inside SpaceX
  • Interact with key stakeholders to identify their desired outcomes, take their inputs and deliver improvements to Network Operations owned processes
  • Ensure network incident response processes are rapid, organized, and minimize customer impact
  • Work with the diverse teams across the Starlink program to develop monitoring, detection and response processes that drive quick resolution to emergent network events
  • Define and develop projects, milestones, and maintain roadmaps, practicing flexible prioritization and scope management in order to deliver on program directives
  • Take extreme ownership of deliverables and make risk-conscious decisions under pressure
  • Data modeling and analysis

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, or science discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience in software development, data analysis, system administration, site reliability, or working in a network or security operations center
  • 1+ Years experience with Python (Primarily for automating tasks, data analysis, and using different libraries for data manipulation, visualization and process optimization)
  • 1+ Years experience with in SQL or relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Metabase)
  • Experience with basic networking concepts: (routers, switches, OSI, TCP/IP, Client-Server architecture)

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • Bachelor’s degree or higher in a computer science, engineering, math, or science discipline
  • 2+ years of experience developing software, analysis, processes, or projects in a rapidly changing, highly demanding environment with ability to run these projects independently
  • Strong design and problem-solving skills, with a focus on architecting at scale
  • Experience with operational open source technologies such as Prometheus, Alert Manager, Grafana, StackStorm, Redis, PostgreSQL, DataHub
  • Experience creating detailed documentation and procedures from scratch
  • Understanding of internet service provider operations and technologies including but not limited to:
    • Carrier infrastructure: (Optical/DWDM, Radio Frequency, Datacenter, OSP)
    • Routing and switching: (BGP, IS-IS, Segment Routing, L3VPN, L2VPN, LACP)
    • Network services: (DNS, DHCP, CGNAT, PTP, etc...)
    • Knowledge and troubleshooting of common consumer devices (NAS, IoT, Smart devices, etc…)
  • Experience working within complex, software defined networking (SDN) and/or network function virtualization (NFV) environments

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

  • Must be able to participate in on-call rotation to support critical operations as needed

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:     

Pay range:    
Level I: $100,000.00 - $120,000.00/per year    
Level II: $115,000.00 - $135,000.00/per year    

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, stock options, 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. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year. Company shuttles are offered to employees for round trip travel from select Seattle locations to the SpaceX Redmond office Monday to Friday. 

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. 

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