Lead Engineer, AI Infrastructure (C++, C)

SpaceXSI; Palo Alto, Seattle (CA, WA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 357,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical, vision, and dental

401(k) retirement plan

Short & long-term disability insurance

Life insurance

Employee discounts

Job summary

SpaceXSI is seeking a Lead Engineer for AI infrastructure in Palo Alto to architect and maintain software for training Grok models on massive GPU clusters. You will lead a versatile team tackling reliability, throughput, security, and developer experience, driving critical infrastructure across models and hardware integration.

You will collaborate with model, kernel, network, hardware, platform, and site ops engineers to prototype, validate concepts, and plan milestones.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, or technical discipline.
• Hands-on systems programming in C or C++ on large-scale clusters.

Responsibilities

• Develop reliable software for training Grok models on large GPU clusters.
• Define future training architectures and hardware directions.
• Collaborate with model, kernel, network, hardware, platform, and site ops engineers.
• Create prototypes to validate design concepts and constraints.
• Lead team planning with stakeholders to set milestones and execute.

Skills

C/C++ programming

Systems programming

Performance optimization

Team leadership

GPU compute training

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, or technical discipline

Job description

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today, SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary and expanding consciousness to the stars. SpaceXSI is building Super Intelligence to help humanity understand the universe. Our teams are building the full Super Intelligence stack: from our Colossus supercomputers, to Grok models, to our suite of applications, including Grok Bot, Grok Build, Grok Imagine, Grok Voice, and X. We're creating a powerful flywheel where more compute trains better models, better models power more useful products, and what we learn from people using those products shapes what we build next.

LEAD ENGINEER, AI INFRASTRUCTURE (C++, C)

The Grok training program is looking for a lead software engineer on the AI infrastructure team. You will lead the team that architects, implements, and maintains the software infrastructure responsible for training grok models on hundreds of thousands or millions of GPUs.

The success of Grok depends on the quality of the software that you and your team produce, including reliability, fault tolerance, throughput, security, and developer experience. You are the engineer that other engineers count on; you are technical, you tackle every problem with enthusiasm; you remove hurdles. You are a self-starter and a team player. We are seeking a talented lead software engineer to join us in making our vision a reality.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop reliable, performant, and maintainable software responsible for training Grok models in our world-class compute clusters
• Provide technical direction for future training architectures and hardware designs
• Work closely with other model engineers, kernel engineers, network engineers, hardware design engineers, platform engineers, and site ops engineers
• Develop prototypes to prove out key design concepts and quantify technical constraints
• Lead planning efforts for the team, working with key stakeholders in other teams and management to develop milestones and execute to them

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, or technical discipline
• Hands-on systems programming experience in C or C++

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Developed, debugged, and and deployed software that has been used in real world applications/projects
• 3+ years of software engineering experience OR 1+ years of C/C++ experience at SpaceX
• Solid fundamental knowledge of NVL72 GB300 racks, computer architecture, networking, math, and physics
• Strong skills in modelling, debugging, performance optimization, and unit testing
• Creative approach to problem solving, exceptional analytical skills and engineering fundamentals

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

$220,000 - $357,000 USD

Base salary is just one part of our total rewards package at SpaceXSI, 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.