Sr. Network Engineer, AI Infrastructure (Starshield)
SpaceX· Starshield Software Engineering
Hawthorne, CA$165k - $265kFull-timePosted 1mo ago
About the role
Senior network engineer responsible for operating and deploying the Starshield data center network, designing high-speed interconnects for AI clusters, and leading network integration, security, and optimization efforts to support national security missions.
Responsibilities
- Manage network infrastructure and deployments to Top Secret data centers
- Design, validate, and productize high-speed copper and optical connectivity solutions for AI clusters (100k+ GPU scale)
- Collaborate with ML training teams to translate workload communication patterns into concrete interconnect topology and optical reconfigurability requirements
- Contribute to various tools for rapid deployments (ZTP/custom provisioning tools)
- Improve network performance and reliability based upon system performance metrics, including capacity planning, failure detection and remediation
- Assist in capacity augmentation and network optimization deployments
- Lead network integration and troubleshooting efforts
- Collaborate with hardware, software, and network engineers to improve the Starshield network design
- Assist in updating system configuration and firmware
- Build automation for network devices, operational and deployment tools
- Mentor and train junior network engineers
- As a senior engineer you must lead the team to technical excellence – your decisions guide the team
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical or engineering discipline AND 5+ years of professional networking experience deploying enterprise network solutions or cloud and web-scale networks; OR 7+ years of professional networking experience deploying enterprise network solutions or cloud and web-scale networks in lieu of a degree
- 5+ years of networking experience deploying enterprise network solutions and/or cloud and GPU networks (internship/co-op experience qualifies)
- Layer-1 experience (e.g., transport, DWDM, optical fiber, circuit troubleshooting, activations, etc.)
- Hands-on experience with the deployment of networking hardware (routers, modems, switch, firewalls, etc..)
Skills
Required:Bachelor’s degree in technical/engineering discipline5+ years professional networking experience deploying enterprise or cloud/web-scale networksLayer-1 networking (transport, DWDM, optical fiber, circuit troubleshooting)Deployment of networking hardware (routers, switches, firewalls)Clearance ability (Top Secret or Top Secret SCI)
Nice to have:Datacenter networking (Ethernet, IPv4/IPv6, MPLS)Routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, VXLAN)InfiniBand/NVLinkNVIDIA GPU deployment stacks (Blackwell/Rubin)Network security functionsCertifications (Cisco, Juniper, Arista)Mentoring/junior engineer coaching
Benefits
- Long-term incentives (stock or long-term cash awards)
- Discretionary bonuses and 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 and 10+ paid holidays per year
- Paid sick leave per company policy
Last updated Sep 16, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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