Job Summary:
SpaceX is actively developing technologies to enable human life on Mars, and they are seeking a Senior AI Engineer for Special Programs with Top Secret Clearance. The role involves owning strategy, execution, and deployment of mission-critical AI solutions for U.S federal agencies, while collaborating with various teams to deliver impactful projects.
Responsibilities:
• Design, build, and optimize integrations between AI frontier models (e.g., Grok family) and government systems, platforms, and data environments.
• Identify pain points, scoping product specifications, and designing and building AI-powered software for government or enterprise use cases.
• Benchmark models and develop 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.
• Analyze request logs, prompt data, or system outputs to ensure reliability and audibility.
• Build internal tooling to streamline workflows and automate repetitive tasks in secure environments.
• Partner with agency stakeholders to understand requirements, prototype solutions, and iterate rapidly based on real-world feedback.
• Ship production-grade code and features with a bias toward speed, simplicity, and measurable impact.
Qualifications:
Required:
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, physics, or data science.
• 5+ years of hands-on software engineering experience building scalable systems, APIs, or AI/ML applications.
• Active Top-Secret or Top-Secret SCI.
Preferred:
• Demonstrated success working with government agencies, DoD, or federal contractors on AI, software, or data projects.
• 6+ years of software engineering experience, ideally in environments requiring high reliability or security.
• Expertise in designing, implementing, and maintaining robust, scalable, and secure AI-driven solutions that meet stringent compliance and operational standards.
• 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.
• 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 solutions for high-throughput, mission-critical workloads.
• Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools like Pulumi or Terraform, particularly in secure or government-aligned deployments.
• Adaptability to shifting priorities and requirements in a fast-paced, mission-driven startup setting.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, with experience documenting technical solutions for diverse stakeholders.
Company:
SpaceX develops and operates rockets, satellite networks, and AI infrastructure including launch, connectivity, and cloud services. Founded in 2002, the company is headquartered in Hawthorne, USA, with a team of 1001-5000 employees. The company is currently Late Stage.