About the RoleWe are seeking a
Ground Network Engineer to join our Ground Software team. As a Ground Network Engineer, you will design, build, and operate the ground and site network infrastructure that connects Apex facilities and mission operations across both commercial and secured environments. This is a
hands-on engineering role for someone who is equally comfortable
architecting a highly available Kubernetes platform, and
defining the security posture that keeps it all compliant. You will be a
primary technical owner, setting the standards that the rest of the team builds on.
Responsibilities: - Architect and build ground and site network infrastructure spanning commercial and secured or classified environments through the platform layer.
- Design, deploy, and scale highly available Kubernetes clusters that support workloads across multiple security and classification levels.
- Own the security posture of ground infrastructure, defining and enforcing controls, hardening, and compliance for sensitive government and commercial programs.
- Build and maintain infrastructure as code using Terraform, Terragrunt, and similar tooling so that environments are repeatable, reviewable, and fast to stand up.
- Establish observability across the ground network, including monitoring, metrics, logging, and alerting, so issues are caught before they reach a mission.
- Design and run CI/CD pipelines and automation that streamline deployments and reduce manual, error-prone work.
- Act as a primary site reliability engineer for ground systems, driving uptime, incident response, and reliability standards on programs where downtime is not an option.
- Partner with security, mission operations, and program teams to translate requirements into infrastructure that is both compliant and operable.
- Set architectural standards and mentor other engineers, raising the bar for how ground infrastructure is built at Apex.
Requirements:- U.S. Person status (Citizen, Green Card holder, etc.)
- 5+ years of experience in site reliability, infrastructure, or network engineering, with a meaningful portion in aerospace, defense, satellite, or another mission-critical domain.
- Hands-on experience architecting and operating ground network or large-scale production network infrastructure.
- Deep expertise with Kubernetes and containers, including building and scaling high availability clusters in production.
- Strong networking fundamentals across routing, switching, segmentation, and secure network design.
- Proven experience with infrastructure as code, ideally Terraform and Terragrunt, and with CI/CD, automation, and observability tooling such as Prometheus, Grafana, or similar.
- Working knowledge of security and compliance for regulated or classified environments, and the judgment to design a defensible security posture.
- Proficiency scripting and building tooling in Python, Go, or a comparable language.
Nice-to-Haves- Active Top Secret or Top Secret/SCI clearance
- Prior experience supporting classified or government space programs, or standing up infrastructure across multiple classification levels.
- Familiarity with GitOps workflows and tools such as ArgoCD, and with modern observability stacks including Mimir.
#LI-AB1
What We Offer For Full-time Employees:- Shared upside: Receive equity in Apex, letting you benefit from the work you create
- Best-in-class healthcare: 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision for you and your dependents, plus $100k life insurance at no cost
- Comprehensive PTO package to reset and recharge - starting at 15 days vacation, growing to 20+ days annually, plus 10 paid holidays
- Competitive 401(k) plan with generous matching - 100% match on first 3%, 50% on next 2%
- 8 weeks paid parental leave plus childcare reimbursement up to $350/day for work-related travel
- Daily catered lunch and unlimited snacks to keep you fueled throughout the day
- Vibrant community: Monthly office socials, pickleball tournaments, run club, and gatherings for you and your family
- Your dream desk setup and all the tools you need to be your most productive self
- World-class Playa Vista office with the benefit of in-person collaboration with amazing coworkers and flexibility to integrate work and life
- Real impact opportunity: Work alongside experts from aerospace, new space, and other cutting-edge industries to make a lasting difference
Ready to join a team where your contributions matter and your future is bright? Let's build something extraordinary together.
