Member of Technical Staff - Government at SpaceX in Washington, DC

Summary: SpaceX is a company focused on developing technologies for space exploration and enabling human life on Mars. They are seeking a Member of Technical Staff to engineer and deploy Starshield AI capabilities for U.S. federal agencies, collaborating with various teams to ensure the models are useful for missions while maintaining ethical standards. Responsibilities: - Design, build, and optimize integrations between Starshield AI frontier models (e.g., Grok family) and government systems, platforms, and data environments - Collaborate on custom SDKs, APIs, developer tools, and documentation tailored for government and enterprise developers - Partner with agency stakeholders to understand requirements, prototype solutions, and iterate rapidly based on real-world feedback - Ship production-grade code and features with a bias toward speed, simplicity, and measurable impact Required Qualifications: - Bachelor's degree in computer science or another STEM discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience in software development in lieu of a degree - Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed - 20% travel may be required to government sites - This position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment Preferred Qualifications: - 1+ years of hands-on software engineering experience building scalable systems, APIs, or AI/ML applications (strong Python proficiency, other languages a plus) - Experience working with large language models, generative AI, or agentic systems—either in research, production, or applied engineering - Familiarity with government or public sector technology environments (federal civilian agencies, state/local gov, or regulated industries like healthcare, finance, or infrastructure) - Strong product sensibility: ability to translate ambiguous stakeholder needs into concrete technical solutions - Demonstrated ability to write clean, maintainable, high-performance code under tight timelines - Exceptional problem-solving skills and intellectual curiosity—you thrive on hard, ambiguous challenges - Excellent communication skills; you can explain complex technical concepts to non-technical partners clearly and concisely - Prior work on AI safety, governance, red-teaming, or responsible AI deployment - Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), or API orchestration - Background in policy-adjacent technical roles, civic tech, or public-interest technology - Contributions to open-source AI projects or developer tools Required Skills: Software development, Python, API development, AI/ML applications, Large language models, Generative AI, Agentic systems, Government technology environments, Cloud platforms AWS, Cloud platforms GCP, Cloud platforms Azure, Containerization Docker, Containerization Kubernetes, API orchestration, AI safety, governance, Intellectual curiosity Benefits: Long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, Potential discretionary bonuses, Ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, 401(k) retirement plan, Short and long-term disability insurance, Life insurance, Paid parental leave, 3 weeks of paid vacation, 10 or more paid holidays per year, Paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy