Sr. Machine Learning Engineer, Search Ranking

xAI is hiring a Sr. Machine Learning Engineer, Search Ranking in Palo Alto, United States. It pays $180k-$330k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on xAI.

Level's read on this job

On Level's scale, this machine learning engineer role is Builds AI ●●●●: the job is building AI systems.
Level classes it as a senior role.
xAI has 293 other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

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.

SR. MACHINE LEARNING ENGINEER, SEARCH RANKING

The X Search team is responsible for building and operating the core search engine that powers discovery on X. We own the full end-to-end search stack — from real-time retrieval and indexing to ranking and the end-user search experience.

Our goal is to create the most relevant, fast, and intelligent search experience on the internet by combining state-of-the-art information retrieval systems with Grok’s reasoning capabilities.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Build search and retrieval algorithms that scale to millions of users
Build and operate large scale search engine and search infrastructure
Train state of the art ML ranking models
Integrate Grok in search systems and products

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

5+ years of experience with vector databases, search indices, or similar data stores for search applications
Experience in Python, Go, and Rust

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

Experience working on large-scale search systems
Experience building or working with production ML systems
Take full ownership of problems and learn whatever you need to solve them
Can move quickly in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities and tight deadlines

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

$180,000 - $330,000 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

Sr. Machine Learning Engineer, Search Ranking at xAI rates 98 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

●●●● 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.