Security Engineer - GRC Sales
xAI is hiring a Security Engineer - GRC Sales in Palo Alto, New York and Washington DC, United States. It pays $100k-$258k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on xAI.
Level's read on this job
- Works on AI ●●●○ is how Level rates this cybersecurity role: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include Kubernetes, CI/CD and LLMs.
- Level classifies it as a senior role.
- Level lists 304 other open roles at xAI.
- The role was posted in the last few days.
AI in this role
Security engineer focused on GRC, compliance, and customer trust for AI/LLM systems and Super Intelligence infrastructure.
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:
We are seeking a mid-to-senior Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) professional focused on third-party risk management and customer trust. This role sits at the intersection of cybersecurity GRC, vendor management, and sales enablement: you will act as a security-minded presales engineer for the sales team, develop enough depth in the SpaceXSI technical environment to accurately complete customer vendor security questionnaires, join customer meetings as the security and compliance subject matter expert, and help operate third-party risk and vendor management processes. The ideal candidate brings a cybersecurity and GRC perspective — fluent in how AI LLMs, CI/CD pipelines, identity and access management, DevOps, DevSecOps, Kubernetes, and IT/AI governance actually work in production — and can translate that understanding into clear, credible answers for enterprise buyers without slowing deals or overstating our posture.
This role may also include additional tasks and responsibilities as needed to support the team and evolving business priorities.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Support the sales organization as a cybersecurity/GRC presales partner: attend customer and prospect meetings, present our security and compliance posture, and answer technical and control-related questions with accuracy and judgment.
- Own and continuously improve responses to customer vendor security questionnaires, RFPs, SIG/CAIQ-style assessments, and due-diligence requests; maintain a reusable knowledge base of control narratives grounded in how SpaceXSI actually operates.
- Build and maintain working fluency across the SpaceXSI environment — AI/LLM systems and model governance, CI/CD pipelines, identity and access management, DevOps and DevSecOps practices, Kubernetes platforms, and governance of IT and AI environments — sufficient to answer customer questions and escalate appropriately to engineering when needed.
- Partner with Engineering, Security, Legal, and Product to keep questionnaire content, Trust Center materials, and security collateral current as architecture, controls, and certifications evolve.
- Translate customer security requirements into actionable internal asks; help distinguish must-have contractual or control commitments from unreasonable or out-of-scope demands.
- Contribute to policies, standards, and procedures related to third-party risk, customer assurance, and vendor security due diligence.
- Coordinate with the broader GRC and security teams on overlapping frameworks and evidence (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, privacy commitments) so external answers remain consistent with our internal control environment and GRC tooling (e.g., Vanta).
- Identify patterns in customer questionnaires and deal blockers; feed those insights back into product, engineering, and GRC roadmaps to reduce friction over time.
- Create and present concise status updates on questionnaire volume, deal-impacting security asks, vendor risk posture, and emerging customer assurance themes to sales leadership and GRC stakeholders.
- Champion clear, honest customer communication — building trust by explaining what we do, how we govern AI and infrastructure, and where we are intentionally scoping risk.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Security, Cybersecurity, or in an engineering/STEM field.
- 5+ years of experience in cybersecurity, GRC, third-party risk management, security assurance, or a closely related role with customer-facing or sales-adjacent responsibilities.
- Demonstrated experience completing or owning customer vendor security questionnaires and participating in security due-diligence discussions with enterprise buyers.
- Working technical fluency across several of the following: AI/LLM or ML platforms, CI/CD pipelines, identity and access management, DevOps/DevSecOps, Kubernetes, and cloud environments (AWS, GCP, or Azure) — enough to understand control implications and speak credibly with engineers and customers.
- Solid understanding of common security and compliance frameworks used in customer assurance (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST CSF) and how controls map to questionnaire language.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain cybersecurity and GRC concepts to sales, customers, legal, and engineering audiences.
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- 7+ years of cybersecurity, GRC, third-party risk, or customer trust / security assurance experience (mid-to-senior scope).
- Prior experience in a presales security, solutions engineering (security), customer trust, or sales-enablement GRC role at a technology, cloud, or AI company.
- Hands-on or deeply adjacent experience with vendor risk management programs — onboarding assessments, continuous monitoring, contract security exhibits, and residual-risk reporting.
- Familiarity with AI governance topics relevant to customer diligence (e.g., model data handling, prompt/output controls, training-data boundaries, ISO 42001 / NIST AI RMF concepts, EU AI Act awareness).
- Experience maintaining a Trust Center, security FAQ library, or questionnaire knowledge base; familiarity with GRC platforms such as Vanta, Drata, or similar is a plus.
- Ability to read architecture diagrams, IAM models, and pipeline/Kubernetes high-level designs and turn them into accurate, non-jargon customer narratives.
- Comfort operating in fast-moving deal cycles while protecting accuracy — knowing when to say "I'll confirm with engineering" versus answering from established evidence.
- Working knowledge of data privacy frameworks (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) as they appear in enterprise security and vendor assessments.
- Certifications such as CISSP, CISA, CISM, CRISC, CTPRP, CIPT, CIPP/US, or similar preferred.
- Experience supporting public sector, financial services, or other highly regulated customer diligence processes is a plus.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
$100,000 - $258,000 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.
SpaceXSI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our Recruitment Privacy Notice.
How we rate this
Security Engineer - GRC Sales at xAI rates 65 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Pay
- This job starts at
- $100k
- Typical cybersecurity job
- $159k
This posting starts 37% below the typical cybersecurity job. See cybersecurity jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where grc was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where cybersecurity was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where vendor management was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where presales was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where compliance was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Grc, Cybersecurity, Vendor Management, Presales, and Compliance. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project. This role expects it to be a running habit.
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