Member of Technical Staff - RL Training Framework

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

Job summary

xAI is seeking an engineer to join the RL infrastructure team to help develop our RL training framework. The RL engineer will design and implement systems backing all RL workloads, from small scale ablations to production training runs.

You will profile, debug and optimize end-to-end training performance and improve scalability and observability of the RL stack in a hands-on, collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• Experience building, debugging, and optimizing efficiency of large-scale distributed systems.
• Comfortable diving into unfamiliar areas and solving problems at all levels of the stack.
• Proficiency in Python, Jax, Rust, and/or C++.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement the systems backing all RL workloads at xAI, from small scale ablations to production training runs.
• Profile, debug, and optimize end-to-end training performance.
• Improve scalability and observability of the RL stack.

Skills

Distributed systems

Python

Jax

Rust

C++

Reinforcement learning

LLM training infrastructure

Tools

Jax

Rust

C++

Python

Job description

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

ABOUT THE ROLE

The RL infrastructure team is looking for an engineer to help develop our RL training framework.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design and implement the systems backing all RL workloads at xAI, from small scale ablations to production training runs.
• Profile, debug, and optimize end-to-end training performance.
• Improve scalability and observability of the RL stack.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience building, debugging, and optimizing efficiency of large-scale distributed systems.
• Comfortable diving into unfamiliar areas and solving problems at all levels of the stack.
• Proficiency in Python, Jax, Rust, and/or C++.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Experience with large scale LLM training infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of reinforcement learning techniques.
• Experience with RL numerics.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

$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.

xAI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our Recruitment Privacy Notice.