Senior Site Reliability Engineer

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others – with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers – we’re mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today’s and tomorrow’s massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization.  If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply.

The Role

You will be responsible for the core infrastructure and tooling used by the software team and larger Engineering org as we build and fly some of the largest spacecraft that have ever been flown. You will create solutions that affect how we write, build, and test code for all aspects of vehicle software and many aspects of non-vehicle software. In your first six months, you will directly shape the software solutions of our first Mega class satellite.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement and maintain both Cloud and On-Premises infrastructure using Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC)

• Update, deploy and scale our mission-critical services using industry best practices

• Closely collaborate with engineering teams to create highly available, deployable, and reliable products

• Reduce operational toil through automation, tooling, and self-service platforms

• Partner with other technical teams to design controls, uphold security standards, and proactively mitigate vulnerabilities

• Lead high-impact reliability, security, and resiliency efforts that influence platform strategy, elevate engineering excellence, and enable critical business outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology or a STEM discipline or 5+ years of professional experience in Software Engineering, Site Reliability Engineering or DevOps

• Deep experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure)

• 3+ years of Infrastructure-as-code deployment processes

• Production experience with Kubernetes and container  orchestration

• Solid understanding of networking & Linux internals

Nice to Have

• Experience managing application deployment workflows

• Experience managing core infrastructure with high availability requirements

• Experience with high-volume manufacturing, aerospace, or other adjacent environments

• Experience writing Terraform, Ansible, or other common Infrastructure-as-Code and owning the full lifecycle of infrastructure deployments

• Experience working with mission-critical and sensitive systems

• Strong programming skills in at least one language (Go, Python, or similar)

• Track record of driving technical strategy and influencing across teams

Compensation and Benefits:

• Base salary range for this role is $140,000 - $180,000 + equity in the company

• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level

• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

Export Compliance

As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by  22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.

Equal Opportunity

K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space 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.