Simulation Software Engineer

About the role

Join the team responsible for creating the simulation infrastructure that powers flight systems for Falcon, Falcon Heavy, Dragon, Starlink, and Starship. You will build high-fidelity models for physics, fluid dynamics, and electronics to support mission success and future Mars exploration. In this capacity, you own the architecture and implementation of simulation frameworks that guide critical engineering decisions across the entire vehicle portfolio. The role requires you to translate complex aerodynamic and structural models into executable code that runs reliably in real-time environments. You will be instrumental in validating vehicle behavior under extreme conditions before any physical hardware is tested. Your work will directly inform design trade-offs and influence the safety margins of missions that travel beyond Earth. You will partner closely with domain experts to ensure that simulation outputs accurately reflect physical reality and regulatory constraints. This position is at the center of how SpaceX iterates quickly while maintaining the rigor required for human spaceflight.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Build and maintain real-time simulation software for all vehicle platforms, ensuring stability across diverse operational scenarios.
• Create prototypes to test design concepts and define technical limits, enabling rapid exploration of alternative engineering approaches.
• Enhance the performance and reliability of simulation tools, reducing turnaround time for critical analysis workflows.
• Collaborate with internal users to refine features and improve the simulation experience, aligning tools with evolving mission needs.
• Uphold high engineering standards while iterating on complex software challenges, balancing innovation with robustness and traceability.
• Integrate physics modeling, fluid dynamics, and electronic simulations into a cohesive environment that supports cross-disciplinary validation.
• Optimize computational workflows to handle large-scale datasets and complex simulations without compromising accuracy or stability.
• Implement debugging, unit testing, and performance tuning practices that ensure simulation integrity across long execution cycles.
• Work with distributed computing frameworks to scale simulations across multiple nodes and leverage parallel processing capabilities.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of interfaces with tools such as ROS2 and Gazebo, ensuring compatibility with existing simulation ecosystems.

Requirements

• Bachelor degree in computer science, engineering, math, or a STEM field; alternatively, 2+ years of professional software development experience.
• 1+ years of experience developing in C++, with a strong grasp of low-level memory management and performance considerations.
• Ability to work weekends and extended hours as required to meet critical mission timelines and support global operations.
• Demonstrated capability to understand and modify complex simulation codebases under tight deadlines and evolving requirements.
• Familiarity with numerical methods and their application to real-time simulation problems in engineering contexts.
• Willingness to adhere to strict ITAR compliance, ensuring that sensitive technical data is handled in accordance with U.S. export regulations.
• Proven track record of writing reliable C++ code that integrates with larger simulation frameworks used for flight systems analysis.
• Commitment to maintaining detailed documentation of simulation models, assumptions, and configurations to support reproducibility and audits.

Nice to have

• Proficiency in C++ software design, including object-oriented and generic programming patterns applied to simulation problems.
• Knowledge of distributed systems, memory management, networking protocols, and CPU scheduling as they relate to high-performance simulation workloads.
• Competency in classical physics and mathematics, including calculus, algebra, and Euclidean geometry, with an ability to apply these concepts to dynamic simulation models.
• Experience with debugging, unit testing, and performance tuning in complex simulation environments where deterministic behavior is essential.
• Familiarity with open source simulators such as ROS2 and Gazebo, including plugin development and integration with custom simulation logic.
• Understanding of physics modeling approaches for multi-body dynamics, aerodynamics, and control systems within a simulation framework.
• Exposure to real-time constraints and the techniques used to meet them in mission-critical simulation scenarios.

Skills & tools

• C++
• ROS2
• Gazebo
• Distributed computing
• Physics modeling

Practical notes

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Salary: Level I ($125,000 - $150,000) or Level II ($145,000 - $175,000) based on experience.

• Benefits: Includes company stock, stock options, long-term cash awards, discretionary bonuses, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k), disability and life insurance, paid parental leave, 3 weeks of vacation, and 10+ paid holidays.
• ITAR: Applicants must be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees, or asylees to comply with U.s. export regulations.