Software Engineer - X Data Engineering

SpaceXSI; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceXSI in Palo Alto seeks a Data Engineer to join the X product engineering team. You will help build and operate a distributed data platform powering real-time and batch pipelines handling billions of events daily for multiple internal stakeholders.

You will own data correctness end to end, choose the right tools across Spark, Kafka, Flink and SQL, and partner with product, engineering, legal and finance to surface data gaps and drive high‑impact improvements.

Qualifications

• Hands‑on software engineering experience (3+ years) in data engineering or distributed systems.
• Proficient in one of Python, Rust, Scala, Go or Java, and familiar with data pipeline tooling.
• Experience solving large scale problems and delivering incremental quality improvements.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate production‑grade realtime and batch pipelines ingesting and processing data.
• Create datasets and internal data products for analysis and product improvement.
• Prototype tooling to automate data workflows, backfills, dashboards and self‑serve data access.
• Own data correctness end to end: invariants, reconciliation, and root‑cause investigations.
• Work across query engines and frameworks (BigQuery, Trino, Clickhouse; Flink, Kafka, Spark) as needed.
• Collaborate with product and business teams to surface data gaps and prioritize improvements.
• Iterate rapidly, shipping small but useful increments with high reliability.

Skills

Python

Rust

Scala

Go

Java

Tools

Spark

Kafka

Flink

SQL

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 Data Engineer in X product engineering team, you will play a key role in providing comprehensive data solutions that own or serve a wide range of stakeholders, including our end-users and internal teams such as Product engineering, Algorithm, Legal, Finance and Sales. Our work utilizes AI, distributed computing and hybrid storage technologies, but extends beyond purely data-centric solutions, encompassing non-data-related challenges, ultimately maximizing the potential of data for the benefit of our diverse user base.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

You'll help build and operate a distributed data platform that powers hundreds of realtime and batch pipelines processing billions of events per day. The team runs like an internal startup — we own problems end to end, from raw event streams to the datasets, tooling, and metrics that product, growth, safety, and business teams depend on daily. In this role you will:

• Design, build, and operate production‑grade realtime and batch pipelines that ingest, process, validate, and deliver data powering user‑behavior insights and product decisions.
• Create shared datasets, fact tables, and internal data products that let other teams analyze, debug, and improve product performance.
• Prototype and build tooling that automates and accelerates internal data workflows — backfills, dashboards, report generation, and self‑serve access to data.
• Own data correctness end to end: validate with output invariants, denominator reconciliation, and independent recomputation, and lead root‑cause investigations when key metrics move unexpectedly.
• Move fluidly across query engines and frameworks (e.g., BigQuery, Trino, Clickhouse for analytics; Flink, Kafka, Spark/Scalding for streaming and batch), choosing the right tool and adapting quickly to new infrastructure and environments.
• Partner across product and business teams to surface where data gaps exist and prioritize the highest‑impact opportunities for new data acquisition and improvement.
• Iterate quickly on feedback, shipping the smallest useful increment with a strong bias toward efficient, accurate, and reliable solutions.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

We are looking for an engineer with 3+ years of professional software engineering experience, ideally in data engineering or distributed systems.

• Hands‑on expertise in Python, Rust, Scala, Go or Java, and data pipeline toolings and distributed systems.
• Knowledge of realtime and batch data processing tools such as Spark/Kafka/Flink/SQL and various storage systems in RMDBs/NoSQL
• Experience solving large scale problems and comfortable doing incremental quality work while building brand new systems to enable future quality improvements.
• Proven records of interpreting product requirements into engineering implementation plans, and effectively communicating with different groups (AI, product, marketing/sales and engineering).

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

$125,000 - $400,000 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.