Moonshot Evaluator & Tech De-Risk Lead

Moonshot Factory; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 221,000 - 328,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

X's Rapid Evaluation team seeks engineers and scientists to identify and de-risk hundreds of potential moonshots. You will apply critical thinking, networking, research, and prototyping to propose new opportunities with global impact.

The role blends startup speed with frontier science, requiring comfort with ambiguity and leadership of diverse teams. Candidates bring deep experience from founding or leading frontier initiatives, broad technical expertise, and a track record of turning ideas

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience as a founder or leader within a frontier industry.
• A vast range of technical expertise (hardware, computer science, physics, biology, or chemistry).
• A track record of navigating extreme ambiguity to build viable businesses from the ground up.
• The judgment required to vet breakthrough proposals and identify high-upside technical bets.
• The ability to identify the primary failure modes of a new idea to focus on the biggest risks early on.
• Proven success as a force multiplier who effectively delegates and leverages internal and external teams to scale their own impact.

Responsibilities

• Identify, assess, and synthesize new X moonshots ideas.
• Roll up your sleeves to de-risk your moonshot ideas from both a technical and business perspective.
• Conduct independent and team-based early-stage technical and techno-economic assessments to develop and evaluate potential moonshots.
• Lead small technical teams (internal or external experts) to further the state of the art and build proofs of concept.
• Develop and refine your moonshot story and pitch, regularly sharing your vision and incorporating feedback from our leadership team.

Skills

Founder/leader experience

Broad technical expertise

Ambiguity navigation

Judgment to vet proposals

Risk identification

Delegation & scaling

Job description

X's Rapid Evaluation team seeks engineers and scientists to identify and de-risk hundreds of potential moonshots. You will apply critical thinking, networking, research, and prototyping to propose new opportunities with global impact.

The role blends startup speed with frontier science, requiring comfort with ambiguity and leadership of diverse teams. Candidates bring deep experience from founding or leading frontier initiatives, broad technical expertise, and a track record of turning ideas