AI Security Software Engineer (Starshield)
Hawthorne · Washington, DC · 2+ years experience · Posted Oct 8, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 2+ years experience
- Location
- Hawthorne · Washington, DC
About the role
- SpaceX is seeking an AI Security Software Engineer for the Starshield team to develop AI solutions that solve pressing national security problems.
- As an engineer on the newly formed AI security team, you will build AI-powered automation and platforms to identify and fix vulnerabilities, perform real-time detections, and execute network defense.
Responsibilities
- Design and build security-critical agents for Starshield that automate network and systems defense
- Leverage AI to discover and fix security issues in Starshield infrastructure and systems
- Provide guidance and perform testing of AI integrations into new and existing Starshield systems
- Identify new areas of the program where meaningful security improvements can be gained via automation and AI
- Maintain existing production systems and improve security posture via both direct implementation and recommendations to other teams
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or another STEM discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience in security software development in lieu of a degree
- Experience with one or more software development languages (i.e. Python, C++, Golang)
- Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed
- This position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment
- To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, Refugee, Asylee, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State
Preferred qualifications
- Experience designing and building production software across the stack, including backend services, data models and migrations, and modern web frontends
- Experience taking software from prototype to production: containerized deployment on Kubernetes, CI pipelines, monitoring, and secure connections between services
- Experience designing, prompting, and securing agents that can perform long-running autonomous tasks
- Experience applying AI or machine learning approaches to classification and decision problems such as identifying malicious activity or malicious inputs to an agent
- Experience designing AI systems that learn and improve over time
- Experience in fundamental security engineering areas: identity, cryptography, network security, operating system security, detection and monitoring
- Flexibility, communicating clearly, and establishing and maintaining productive working relationships with other engineering teams
- Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance
Benefits
- Long-term incentives in the form of company stock 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
Skills
- Python
- C++
- Golang
- Kubernetes
- CI Pipelines
