Application Software Engineer, Applied AI

The job

LIVE Employer public job feed (private-sector employer) Source: the employer's public careers feed · Data: listed 2026-07-30

Job description

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.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE ENGINEER, APPLIED AI

The application software team is the central nervous system of SpaceX – we create mission critical applications that are used throughout SpaceX to accelerate launch vehicle production and flight as well as systems that allow Starlink to grow into a worldwide fast, reliable Internet service. We are looking for engineers who treat fellow teammates with fairness, respect, and support.

In this Applied AI role within the Application Software team, you will design, evaluate, deploy, and integrate modern AI systems—including large language models and agentic systems—that power products and infrastructure across SpaceX. You will own the end-to-end lifecycle of AI capabilities from prototype to production while partnering closely with Product, Engineering, and Operations teams. We are looking for a strong software engineer with a proven track record of delivering AI products, including hands-on experience evaluating, deploying, and integrating AI solutions into real production systems.

Aerospace experience is not required – rather we look for smart, motivated, respectful, collaborative engineers who love solving problems and want to make an impact on a super inspiring mission. You will have full ownership of challenging problems, working with a team of enthusiastic engineers with diverse perspectives to design and produce solutions that enable SpaceX to move towards our goals at a rapid pace. The success of the missions at SpaceX depends on the software that you and your team produce.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop highly reliable software solutions used across SpaceX, including AI-powered applications that accelerate production, flight, and Starlink operations
• Create new applications that improve how SpaceX operates by incorporating modern large language models, agentic systems, and other AI capabilities
• Own the full lifecycle of Applied AI systems: design, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and iteration from prototype to production
• Deep dive into users’ problems to uncover high-leverage AI opportunities and deliver efficient, production-grade solutions
• Architect production systems for agentic workflows, tool-use, multi-agent orchestration, advanced retrieval, and long-context applications that prioritize reliability, safety, and responsible deployment
• Build and maintain rigorous evaluation frameworks (LLM-as-judge, automated benchmarks, online evaluation) and production observability/monitoring for AI quality, safety, latency, and cost
• Stay at the frontier of LLM techniques and rapidly incorporate emerging best practices into production systems across SpaceX programs

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or scientific discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience building software in lieu of a degree
• 1+ years of experience in full stack development

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Hands-on experience evaluating, deploying, and integrating AI models into production systems
• Proven track record of delivering (or significantly contributing to) end-to-end AI products or production AI-powered features
• Proven track record of shipping real-world AI products from prototype through production deployment and iteration
• Deep hands-on experience with modern LLM techniques: agentic systems, tool-use / function calling, multi-agent orchestration, advanced retrieval architectures, fine-tuning, and structured outputs
• Experience building production evaluation systems (LLM-as-judge, automated eval harnesses, A/B testing, red-teaming) and AI observability/monitoring (tracing, quality metrics, safety, cost)
• Experience designing and implementing production architecture for AI-powered applications with strong emphasis on reliability, safety, and responsible deployment
• Previous experience in AI product design, development, integration, testing, and productionization
• Strong software engineering foundation with expertise in designing production systems (including AI-powered and system-to-system architectures) and a track record of writing clean, maintainable code
• Programming experience in Python, C#.NET, Go, Scala, Java, or similar
• Production experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and modern data streaming (Kafka or similar)
• Front-end experience (Angular, React, or similar) and database experience (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or similar)
• Demonstrated ability to stay current with rapidly evolving AI technologies and best practices
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver results across multiple parallel priorities in a fast-paced, high-reliability environment

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• You may be asked to work extended hours/weekends dependent on launch cadence
• This role requires you to be onsite. Remote and/or hybrid work will not be considered

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. 

Explore around this job

Field: Technology Sub-niche: Data, analytics and AI All jobs at SpaceX Jobs in Texas Jobs in Starbase, TX Texas state guide

View this job and apply on the employer's page →

You apply on the employer's page; AtiveSite does not receive or process applications and is not affiliated with the employer. The description above is shown as the source published it.

About the role

This is a — role in the Technology field (Data, analytics and AI) at SpaceX.

We could not match this job title to one occupation in the official wage statistics, so no pay estimate is shown. Pay is not in the source listing; ask the employer for the range and compare in the 240 job niches.

How to prepare and behave

This is editorial guidance, not information from the employer.

• Read the whole description and match your examples to its requirements; use the same words the posting uses where they are true for you.
• Research the employer before the interview: what it does, who its customers are and recent news; prepare two or three questions about the work.
• Arrive early (or log in early for a video call), dress one step above the daily dress code, and test your camera and audio beforehand.
• Answer with short stories: the situation, what you did and the result. Give numbers when you have them and never invent them.
• Be honest about gaps; say what you did to learn and how fast you can close them.
• Ask about the team, the first 90 days, how success is measured and the schedule; do not open with salary and time off.
• When pay comes up, know the market range for the occupation and your lowest acceptable offer before you answer; ask for the full package in writing.
• Send a short thank-you message within a day, mentioning one thing you discussed.
• Have code, data work or projects you can show, and be ready to think aloud: many technical interviews test how you reason, not only the answer.

Know your rights as a candidate and an employee:

• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: prohibited employment practices
• U.S. Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Division
• CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor): job search help, interview tips and resumes
• USA.gov: avoiding job scams

The city

Starbase, TX is not one of the cities with its own page in our guides, so here is the state: Texas.

The state economy in brief

Texas is in the South region (West South Central division) and has 30,188,424 residents (the 2nd largest of the 50 states and DC by population), with a median age of 35.6. Its economy produced about $3,032,038 million in the latest four quarters (BEA), 2nd among states and DC, equal to $100,437 per resident.

Jobs and the labour market

The unemployment rate was 4.4% in 2026M09, which is 38th lowest of 51 (1st is the lowest). Employers had job openings equal to 4.1% of employment, 23rd highest of 51, a measure of how hard it is to hire. The median wage across all occupations is $48,620 a year ($23.38 an hour), 5% below the national median ($48,620 against $50,980).

What people do and what it pays

The occupations with the most jobs in Texas are Fast Food and Counter Workers (460,530 jobs, median $27,740); General and Operations Managers (431,310 jobs, median $103,230); Retail Salespersons (341,640 jobs, median $30,800); Customer Service Representatives (337,170 jobs, median $40,420); Home Health and Personal Care Aides (329,590 jobs, median $24,230). Among occupations with at least 2,000 jobs, the best paid are Cardiologists (median $410,150); Radiologists (median $319,320); Physicians, All Other (median $269,800). Compared with the nation, the state is most specialised in management (1.2 times the national share of workers) and installation, maintenance, and repair (1.2 times the national share of workers).

Cost of living, taxes and workplace rules

Prices are below the national average in Texas: the regional price parity is 97.1 against 100 for the whole country (27th lowest of 51). Median gross rent is $1,403 a month and the median household income $78,476, so a year of rent equals 21.5% of income; the median home value is $283,800. The state minimum wage is $7.25 (the higher of state and federal rates applies to most workers). State income tax on wages: No state tax on wages. It is a right-to-work state, meaning workers cannot be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment. It has no state paid family and medical leave programme in our source.

People and commuting

17.6% of residents were born abroad and 33.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Among workers, 71.4% drive alone, 0.9% use public transit and 14.4% work from home; 16.9% commute 45 minutes or more.

State guide: Texas →

Where to live

The job city has no coordinates we can place on the map, so no housing comparison is shown. Use the 250 largest cities table to compare rent and income.

Career paths

We could not match this title to one occupation, so here are the other sub-niches in Technology, where your skills may carry over:

Cybersecurity (512) Software engineering (2678) Cloud, IT and infrastructure (743) Product management (570)

Distances

This job has no single city we can place on the map (remote, flexible or unmatched location), so no distance table is shown. Browse all Technology jobs with distances from any of the 20 largest cities.

The employer

SpaceX is the employer in this listing. See all its open jobs here →

We do not hold headcount or revenue for this employer. Check its careers site and, if it is listed on a stock exchange, its public filings (SEC EDGAR search).

What it is like to work at a company (culture, schedules, benefits) is not in the source data, so we do not describe it. Read the description and ask the questions under "How to prepare".

Other open jobs at SpaceX

Similar jobs

Same sub-niche: Data, analytics and AI

More jobs in Starbase, TX

All Data, analytics and AI jobs → · All Technology sub-niches →

FAQ

What is the Application Software Engineer, Applied AI job at SpaceX?

A private-sector role in technology (data, analytics and ai) listed 102 days ago. The full description is on this page and on the employer's page.

Where is this job?

Starbase, TX.

How do I apply?

Use the "View this job and apply on the employer's page" button. AtiveSite does not receive applications.

How much does it pay?

The listing does not publish pay, and we could not match the title to one official occupation.

What is the cost of living there?

See the state or country guide for rent, income and taxes.

How old is this listing?

It was posted on 2026-07-30 (102 days ago). Jobs older than 90 days are not shown.

Are there similar jobs?

Yes: browse data, analytics and ai jobs in Texas.

Sources and terms

• Job data: SpaceX careers page public feed (listing dated 2026-07-30). The job disappears from this site when it disappears from the source.
• Wages and projections: BLS OEWS (May 2025) and Employment Projections 2025–35.
• City and county figures: Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024, BEA, BLS QCEW and LAUS, NASA POWER climatology; distances from Census Gazetteer coordinates.

AtiveSite is not affiliated with or endorsed by the employer or any government agency, and does not process applications. Verify every detail with the employer before acting.

Sources

• BLS OEWS (wages and employment by occupation, May 2025)
• BLS Employment Projections 2025–35
• BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
• BLS JOLTS
• BLS State and Metro Area Employment
• Census Bureau American Community Survey (via Census Reporter)
• BEA GDP by state and Regional Price Parities
• IRS 2026 tax adjustments
• U.S. Department of Labor, minimum wage by state
• Tax Foundation state income tax rates 2026
• USAJOBS
• USCIS
• U.S. Department of State, visas
• NASA POWER climatology
• GeoNames / Census Gazetteer (coordinates)