Base Salary
$125k - $165k/yr
Responsibilities
- Lead the design, refactoring, redesign, and ongoing evolution of the core C++ vehicle dynamics simulator and associated testing and support infrastructure.
- Architect and improve high-performance C++ Monte Carlo simulation infrastructure, including parallelization, dispersion handling, and reliability for large-scale runs.
- Develop simulation features, models, and tooling focused on performance, usability, and extensibility.
- Own performance optimization, profiling, continuous integration, unit and integration testing, and reliability improvements across the simulation stack.
- Design and implement testing frameworks, support infrastructure, and visualization components for GNC development.
- Collaborate across engineering groups to model multi-body physics, environmental effects, and hardware behaviors while maintaining software quality.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline and 1+ years of software development experience, or 4+ years of professional software development experience in performant C++ or numerical simulations.
- Expert-level C++ proficiency, including language fundamentals, memory management, multithreading/concurrency, data-oriented design, and performance-oriented implementation.
- Experience building or optimizing high-performance simulations, physics engines, or real-time systems such as game engines, robotics, or aerospace simulators.
- High-performance computing experience involving parallel computing, profiling and optimization tools, scalable architectures, Monte Carlo methods, or distributed simulations.
- Strong software design and architecture skills for large-scale maintainable C++ systems, including experience leading refactors or redesigns of complex codebases.
- Foundation in physics and mathematics, including dynamics and numerical methods.
- Experience with debugging, performance profiling, unit testing, and continuous integration for C++ codebases.
- Python and/or front-end technology experience, such as JavaScript, is preferred.
- Strong communication, coordination, problem-solving, initiative, and independent and collaborative working abilities.
- Willingness to work extended hours and weekends when needed.
- Must meet applicable ITAR eligibility or authorization requirements.
Benefits
- Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage; 401(k) retirement plan; short- and long-term disability insurance; life insurance; paid parental leave; discounts and other perks.
- Up to 3 weeks of paid vacation and 10 or more paid holidays annually.
- Washington State employees accrue paid sick time in compliance with state and federal law.
- Employee shuttles are offered Monday through Friday for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the SpaceX Redmond office.
- Potential eligibility for company stock or long-term cash awards, discretionary bonuses, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
Tech Stack
Categories
About SpaceX
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space transportation, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary. SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones. It is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in December 2010. The company made history again in May 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, exchanged cargo payloads, and returned safely to Earth — a technically challenging feat previously accomplished only by governments. Since then Dragon has delivered cargo to and from the space station multiple times, providing regular cargo resupply missions for NASA. For more information, visit www.spacex.com.