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Software Engineer - Reliability

San Francisco & Palo Alto, CA

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

About the Role

We are seeking a talented Software Engineer to join our SuperComputing team. In this role, you’ll ensure the reliability, scalability, and performance of our high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, powering cutting-edge AI research. You’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams to build and maintain systems that support massive-scale data processing and model training.You'll ensure Grok stays reliable for millions while inventing new approaches at the intersection of site reliability and cutting-edge AI to help define the future of AI reliability engineering.

What You’ll Do

  • Design, implement, and maintain robust, scalable infrastructure for supercomputing environments.

  • Monitor and optimize system performance, ensuring high availability and minimal downtime.

  • Develop automation tools and scripts to streamline operations and improve system reliability.

  • Troubleshoot complex issues across distributed systems, networks, and storage solutions.

  • Collaborate with AI researchers and engineers to support compute-intensive workloads.

  • Implement security best practices to protect sensitive data and infrastructure.

  • Contribute to capacity planning and disaster recovery strategies.

  • Participate in an on-call rotation to ensure 24/7 system reliability.

Ideal Experiences

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

  • 3+ years of experience in site reliability engineering, DevOps, or systems engineering.

  • Proficiency in Linux system administration and scripting (e.g., Python, Bash).

  • Experience with containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure).

  • Strong understanding of networking, distributed systems, and storage technologies.

  • Familiarity with HPC environments, GPU clusters, or large-scale data processing.

  • Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

  • Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset.

  • Bonus: Experience with Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform, Ansible) or monitoring tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana).

Location

This role is based in the Bay Area (San Francisco and Palo Alto). Candidates are expected to be located near the Bay Area or open to relocation.

Tech Stack

  • Languages: Rust, Python, C++, Golang

Interview Process

  1. Application Review: Submit your CV and a statement of exceptional work. Our team will review your application to assess fit.

  2. Phone Interview (45 minutes): A brief conversation with a team member to discuss your background, key accomplishments, and motivation.

  3. Main Interview Process 

    • 1 Coding assessment: Solve problems in Rust, Python, C++, or Golang

    • 1 Skill Specific Technical Interview: Demonstrate practical skills in a live problem-solving session.

    • 1 Site Reliability/System Case Study: Analyze and solve a complex, real-world system design or operational problem, demonstrating your technical expertise, problem-solving skills, and ability to optimize system reliability and performance.

    • Project Deep-Dive: Present your past exceptional work to a small audience.

Annual Salary Range

$180,000 - $440,000 USD

Benefits

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.

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