Sr. Software Engineer

About the role

Join the Artificial Intelligence Software Engineering team to build systems that accelerate the design, testing, and operation of launch vehicles and spacecraft. You will develop core AI technologies and train models to solve complex engineering challenges, directly supporting missions to Mars and satellite constellations.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Design and train scalable AI/ML models to support engineering departments.
• Create agentic AI systems and multi-agent workflows for engineering tasks.
• Build and optimize large-scale machine learning training pipelines.
• Develop and fine-tune foundation models including LLMs, vision, and multimodal systems.
• Produce AI tools for predictive modeling, anomaly detection, and automated decision-making.
• Manage the full AI model lifecycle from data preparation to deployment and monitoring.
• Establish standards for model validation, safety, reliability, and data security.
• Collaborate on AI architecture, training strategies, and code reviews.

This is a senior role on a team applying artificial intelligence directly to aerospace engineering problems. The systems you build are intended to accelerate the design, testing, and operation of launch vehicles and spacecraft, supporting missions to Mars and satellite constellations. Your focus will be on designing and training scalable AI/ML models that help engineering departments across the company, from predictive modeling and anomaly detection to automated decision-making.

A core part of the work is model development. You will build and optimize large-scale machine learning training pipelines, develop and fine-tune foundation models including LLMs, vision, and multimodal systems, and create agentic AI systems and multi-agent workflows for engineering tasks. You will also manage the full AI model lifecycle from data preparation to deployment and monitoring, establish standards for model validation, safety, reliability, and data security, and collaborate with colleagues on AI architecture, training strategies, and code reviews.

The role is senior and highly technical, and the models you build are expected to operate in production settings where engineering decisions depend on them. That means balancing innovation with discipline, and making sure every model is validated, reliable, and secure before it is relied upon by the teams who use it.

Requirements

• Bachelor degree in computer science, data science, engineering, math, or physics, OR 4+ years of professional AI/ML system building experience.
• 5+ years of professional experience in AI software engineering, specifically in model training and fine-tuning.
• 5+ years of professional Python programming experience.
• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as required.
• Must meet ITAR requirements: U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee.

Nice to have

• Expertise in LLM transformer architectures, including pre-training, supervised fine-tuning, and reinforcement learning.
• Experience training foundation models at scale.
• Background in computer vision models like object detection, segmentation, or 3D reconstruction.
• Proficiency with PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX.
• Experience with distributed training on GPU clusters and hyperparameter optimization.
• Knowledge of MLOps tools such as MLflow or Weights & Biases.
• Experience with Linux, Git, and CI/CD for ML.
• Familiarity with agentic AI systems and multi-agent workflows.
• Experience with data infrastructure including PostgreSQL, data lakes, and vector databases.
• Skill in deploying containerized applications with Docker and Kubernetes.

Skills & tools

Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, LLMs, Reinforcement Learning, Vision Models, Agentic AI, RAG, MCP servers, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, Git, MLflow, Weights & Biases.

Practical notes

Salary range: $160,000 to $225,000 per year. Compensation includes potential stock, stock options, long-term cash awards, and discretionary bonuses. Benefits include medical, vision, dental, 401(k), disability, life insurance, paid parental leave, and 3 weeks of vacation plus 10+ holidays. Employment is subject to ITAR export regulations.

About the company

Based in Starbase, Texas, a company pursues work in spaceflight, telecom, and artificial intelligence. A unit handles rocket launches, leading yearly orbital counts beyond other national and commercial teams. Another unit runs Starlink, a satellite communications firm. A third area, through SpaceXAI, advances Grok and AI integration with X, while managing data center operations. Roles often cross these paths. Candidates with engineering, software, or operations backgrounds may find chances to join projects that span launch, connectivity, and machine learning efforts in this Texas-based enterprise.