Member of Technical Staff - Government (Cleared)

Confirmed live in the last 24 hours

xAI

Compensation

$180,000 - $440,000/year

Los Angeles, CA; Palo Alto, CA; Washington, D.C.

On-site

Posted March 27, 2026

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:

Applied engineers work directly with our end customers, including federal government and enterprise partners, to own strategy and execution of mission-critical AI solutions. This role mirrors the responsibilities of a hands-on AI startup CTO: you’ll collaborate in a small, agile team to deliver high-stakes projects, often in secure or regulated environments.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Drive the development and enhancement of the core product and underlying model, while collaborating cross-functionally to deliver end-to-end AI solutions.
Identifying pain points, scoping product specifications, and designing and building LLM-powered software for government or enterprise use cases.
Benchmarking models and developing evaluation frameworks to assess performance and address weaknesses, ensuring compliance with customer standards.
Enhancing model performance through system prompt tuning or fine-tuning, with an eye toward secure and scalable deployment.
Analyzing request logs, prompt data, or system outputs to ensure reliability and auditability.
Building internal tooling to streamline workflows and automate repetitive tasks in secure environments.
Refining xAI SDKs or developer documentation based on customer feedback, with an emphasis on usability for government or enterprise developers.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

Government Partnership Experience: Demonstrated success working with government agencies, DoD, or federal contractors on AI, software, or data projects.
Clearance Preferred: Active U.S. security clearance (e.g., Secret, Top Secret) or eligibility to obtain one is highly desirable.
6+ years of software engineering experience, ideally in environments requiring high reliability or security.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, with experience documenting technical solutions for diverse stakeholders.
Ability to translate business, product, or mission needs into engineering solutions, particularly for government or enterprise clients.
Proven experience implementing AI or machine learning products with APIs, back-end systems, and front-end interfaces.
Proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript.
Strong understanding of the HTTP protocol and secure API design.
Robust engineering background, preferably in fields such as Computer Science, Mathematics, Software Engineering, Physics, or Data Science.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

Experience building evaluation frameworks for AI systems and assessing capabilities in regulated or high-stakes contexts.
Deep understanding of machine learning fundamentals—model evaluation, training, and fine-tuning—with a focus on production-ready deployments.
History of deploying machine learning models to production, ideally in secure or cloud-based government environments.
Expertise in writing developer documentation or maintaining SDKs for technical audiences, including government developers.
Ability to work with massive datasets, optimize system performance, and scale solu

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