Software Engineer - X Data Engineering
xAI is hiring a Software Engineer - X Data Engineering in Palo Alto, United States. It pays $125k-$400k 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 data engineer role: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include BigQuery, Trino and Clickhouse.
- Level classifies it as a mid-level role.
- Level lists 296 other open roles at xAI.
AI in this role
Build and operate distributed data platforms and pipelines that power AI models and real-time product features.
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.
SpaceXSI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our Recruitment Privacy Notice.
How we rate this
Software Engineer - X Data Engineering 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
Also common in data engineer jobs at this level
Pay
- This job starts at
- $125k
- Typical data engineer job
- $150k
This posting starts 17% below the typical data engineer job. See data engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where data engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where distributed systems was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where etl was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where python was part of your work. What did you do?
- Walk me through how you've used BigQuery in your day-to-day work.
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Data Engineering, Distributed Systems, ETL, Python, and BigQuery. 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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