Member of Technical Staff, Pre-training Data Infrastructure

xAI; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 440,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Short and long-term disability insurance

Life insurance

Job summary

A technology company in the Bay Area is hiring a Member of Technical Staff to design and implement large-scale data processing systems. Ideal candidates will have experience configuring and troubleshooting distributed systems and building data processing systems from scratch. The annual salary range is $180,000 to $440,000, alongside a robust benefits package including equity and comprehensive insurance coverage.

Qualifications

• Experience configuring and troubleshooting distributed data processing systems.
• Experience building bespoke data processing systems from scratch.
• Experience preparing data for large language models.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement high-throughput data processing systems.
• Orchestrate complex data pipelines.
• Improve data discoverability and quality.

Skills

Strong systems skills

Experience with Python

Experience with Rust

Experience with C++

Tools

Spark

Ray

Job description

Member of Technical Staff, Pre-training Data Infrastructure

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. All employees are expected to be hands‑on and to contribute directly to the company’s mission. Engineers should have strong communication skills and the ability to concisely and accurately share knowledge with teammates.

Tech Stack

• Python / Rust / C++
• Spark
• Ray

Location

Bay Area, including San Francisco and Palo Alto. Candidates are expected to be located nearby or open to relocation.

Focus

• Design and implement petabyte‑scale, high‑throughput data processing systems that involve both CPU‑ and GPU‑based processing.
• Design and implement tools for orchestrating complex data pipelines.
• Design and implement innovative tools for improving data discoverability and data quality at scale for both pre‑training and post‑training across different modalities.
• Build, run, and manage innovative data pipelines for creating high‑quality training data.

Ideal Experiences (at least one from below)

• Strong systems skills in configuring and troubleshooting complex distributed data processing systems for maximum performance.
• Building bespoke data processing systems from scratch.
• Preparing pre‑training and post‑training data for state‑of‑the‑art large language models and generative models.
• Organizing and meticulously bookkeeping data across multiple clouds, of multiple modalities, and from many sources.

Interview Process

After submitting your application, the team reviews your CV and statement of exceptional work. If you pass 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 four technical interviews:

• Coding assessment in a language of your choice.
• Systems hands‑on: Demonstrate practical skills in a live problem‑solving session.
• Project deep‑dive: Present your past exceptional work to a small audience.
• Meet and greet with the wider team.

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

Annual Salary Range

$180,000 – $440,000 USD

Benefits

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 and long‑term disability insurance, life insurance, and various other discounts and perks.

xAI is an equal opportunity employer.