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xAI’s mission is to create AI systems that can accurately understand the universe and aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. Our team is small, highly motivated, and focused on engineering excellence. This organization is for individuals who appreciate challenging themselves and thrive on curiosity. We operate with a flat organizational structure. All employees are expected to be hands-on and to contribute directly to the company’s mission. Leadership is given to those who show initiative and consistently deliver excellence. Work ethic and strong prioritization skills are important. All employees are expected to have strong communication skills. They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates.
About the team
You will work on the team that is responsible for the services that power grok.com. Our team is based in Palo Alto and San Francisco. We focus on writing highly scalable and reliable frontends and APIs that can efficiently process tens of thousands of queries per second. Our team aims to bring the best chat experience possible for users to get immediate value out of our AI systems.
About the Role
Join us in building AI-powered products that impact hundreds of millions worldwide. We’re looking for detail-oriented, action-driven self-starters with a passion for AI’s potential to change lives—no prior AI experience required, just a sharp mind and relentless drive.
As an Exceptional Engineer at xAI, you’ll own the delivery of polished, end-to-end features that delight users and scale our services. Working hand-in-hand with product and research teams, you’ll help turn cutting-edge interactions into reality, directly fueling breakthroughs that redefine what’s possible using advanced AI.
An ideal candidate meets at least the following requirements:
- Expert knowledge of TypeScript, Python or Rust.
- Experience in designing, developing, and maintaining scalable architectures.
- Experience in setting up observability best practices.
- Knowledge of computer science fundamentals and type systems.
- Experience working with Kubernetes and containerized applications.
- Experience in tuning production services for performance, reliability, and scalability.
Additionally, any of the below points will help a candidate stand out:
- Founding engineer.
- Building projects end to end.
- Experience building libraries or frameworks.
- Familiarity with microservices architecture.
- Familiarity functional programming principles.
- Experience gathering and analyzing user feedback.
Locations
We hire engineers in Palo Alto, and San Francisco. Our team usually works from the office 5 days a week but allow work-from-home days when required. Candidates who join in San Francisco must make it to Palo Alto at least twice a week.
Interview Process
After submitting your application, the team reviews your CV and statement of exceptional work. If your application passes this stage, you will be invited to a 15 minute interview (“phone interview”) during which a member of our team will ask some basic questions. If you clear the initial phone interview, you will enter the main process, which consists of 2 technical interviews and 1 project deep-dive interview:
Practical coding assessment in a language of your choice.
Systems design hands-on: Demonstrate practical skills in a live problem-solving session.
Project deep-dive: Present and answer questions about exceptional work that you’ve done.
Meet and greet with the wider team.
Our goal is to finish the main process within one week. Final interviews will be conducted in person.
Annual Salary Range
$180,000 - $440,000 USD
BenefitsBase salary is just one part of our total rewards package at xAI, which also includes equity, comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, and various other discounts and perks.
xAI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our Recruitment Privacy Notice.
xAI San Francisco, California, USA Office
3180 18th St., San Francisco, CA, United States
xAI Palo Alto, California, USA Office
1450 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA, United States
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