Software Engineer, Research Tooling

Candidate; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Software Engineer on the Research Tools team to build the infrastructure and applications that enable researchers to iterate quickly, run complex experiments, and extract insights. This is a full-stack product-engineering role.

You'll work directly with researchers and engineers to deeply understand their workflows, identify bottlenecks, and rapidly ship solutions that multiply their productivity. No prior ML or research experience is required.

Qualifications

• Experience building tools or infrastructure for technical users.
• Shipped full-stack products from UI to storage or services.
• Proficiency with TypeScript and React; also hands-on with Node, Python, or Go.
• Ability to move from concept to working prototype under ambiguity.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain the full-stack applications and infrastructure researchers rely on daily, covering experiment setup, feedback collection, and results analysis.
• Own complete product areas from user needs through design, implementation, and iteration, setting standards for how to build research applications.
• Create reusable platforms and tools that speed up new research applications, then prototype, ship, and iterate quickly based on real-world usage.
• Partner with research teams to turn their workflows and pain points into intuitive interfaces and abstractions that make complex research tasks fast and approachable.

Skills

TypeScript

React

Node.js

Python

Go

Data visualization

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.

About the role

As a Software Engineer on the Research Tools team, you'll build the infrastructure and applications that enable our researchers to iterate quickly, run complex experiments, and extract insights. This is a full-stack product-engineering role.

You'll work directly with researchers and engineers to deeply understand their workflows, identify bottlenecks, and rapidly ship solutions that multiply their productivity. Whether you're creating platforms for experiment orchestration, developing novel visualization tools for model evaluation, or building abstractions for understanding model behavior at scale, your work will directly accelerate our mission of building frontier AI models.

We're looking for someone who can jump into new problems, quickly develop domain expertise, and independently drive impactful projects from conception to delivery. No prior ML or research experience is required.

What you’ll do

• Build and maintain the full-stack applications and infrastructure researchers rely on daily, covering experiment setup, feedback collection, and results analysis.

• Own complete product areas from user needs through design, implementation, and iteration, setting standards for how to build research applications.

• Create reusable platforms and tools that speed up new research applications, then prototype, ship, and iterate quickly based on real-world usage.

• Partner with research teams to turn their workflows and pain points into intuitive interfaces and abstractions that make complex research tasks fast and approachable.

You may be a fit if

• You’ve had experience building tools, platforms, or infrastructure for technical users (engineers, researchers, data scientists, analysts, etc.)

• You’ve shipped full-stack products and owned systems from user interface to storage or services, using technologies such as TypeScript and React alongside Node, Python, or Go.

• You’ve built dense, data-facing tools such as transcript viewers, diffing systems, review queues, observability products, or operational dashboards—and you have strong opinions about how structured data should be rendered.

• You have strong product instincts, can identify the right problems to solve, and can move from concept to working prototype with ease.

• You move quickly under ambiguity, collaborate closely with researchers and domain experts, and take open-ended problems from rough need to reliable product.