Member of Technical Staff - Government Engineering

About xAI

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 engineers are expected to have strong communication skills. They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates.

About the Role

Applied engineers work directly with our end customers, including federal government and enterprise partners, to own strategy and execution of mission-critical AI solutions. This role mirrors the responsibilities of a hands-on AI startup CTO : you'll collaborate in a small, agile team to deliver high-stakes projects, often in secure or regulated environments. A typical day may include :

• Drive the development and enhancement of the core product and underlying model, while collaborating cross-functionally to deliver end-to-end AI solutions.
• Identifying pain points, scoping product specifications, and designing and building LLM-powered software for government or enterprise use cases.
• Benchmarking models and developing evaluation frameworks to assess performance and address weaknesses, ensuring compliance with customer standards.
• Enhancing model performance through system prompt tuning or fine-tuning, with an eye toward secure and scalable deployment.
• Analyzing request logs, prompt data, or system outputs to ensure reliability and auditability.
• Building internal tooling to streamline workflows and automate repetitive tasks in secure environments.
• Refining xAI SDKs or developer documentation based on customer feedback, with an emphasis on usability for government or enterprise developers.

Focus

Demonstrated success working with government agencies, DoD, or federal contractors on AI, software, or data projects.

Active U.S. security clearance (e.g., Secret, Top Secret) or eligibility to obtain one is highly desirable.

Preferred Qualifications

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 (technical phone interview) during which a member of our team will ask technical questions about your background or specialization. If you clear the initial phone interview, you will enter the main process, which consists of three technical interviews. Please note that the Statement of Exceptional Work is a key deciding factor for consideration.

Our goal is to finish the main process within one week. All interviews will be conducted via Google Meet or in-person.

Annual Salary Range

$180,000 - $440,000 USD

Base 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.

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