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 employees are expected to have strong communication skills. They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates.
About the Role
We're seeking exceptional recent graduates to join our expanding US Government Team at the entry level. As a Member of Technical Staff, you'll contribute to engineering and deploying xAI's AI models, APIs, tools, and integrations for real-world government use cases.
This high-ownership role offers rapid learning and impact in a fast-moving environment. You'll collaborate with senior engineers, product, infrastructure, research, and government-facing teams to make frontier AI mission-ready. No prior government experience is required, but we value technical excellence, curiosity, and drive to apply frontier AI to the Government & Public sector
Responsibilities
- Support the design, development, and optimization of integrations between Grok models and government systems, platforms, and data environments
- Contribute to building secure, scalable features, APIs, SDKs, and tools for non-sensitive civilian or classified (if cleared) use cases
- Assist in prototyping, testing, debugging, and iterating on production AI solutions under real-world constraints and compliance requirements
- Collaborate cross-functionally to deliver high-impact proofs-of-concept and deployments for agency partners
- Participate in technical discussions with government stakeholders and help document solutions for public sector developers
- Learn and grow quickly while taking on increasing ownership in a high-velocity team
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, AI/ML, or a closely related technical field (graduated 2024–2026)
- Ability to work in-person in the specified locations (D.C. for non-cleared; LA/Palo Alto/D.C. for cleared)
- Ability to obtain an Active US security clearance to work in the United States
- Excitement about applying frontier AI to public sector and national mission challenges
- Strong programming skills, especially in Python (experience with Go, Rust, C++, React or similar is a plus)
- Solid grasp of software engineering fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, system design, version control)
- Hands-on experience with AI/ML, large language models, APIs, cloud services, or related technologies via projects, internships, coursework, research, or personal work (e.g., GitHub repos, hackathons, publications)
Preferred Qualifications
- Active US security clearance (Top Secret or above) – required for classified DoD/related work and enables LA or Palo Alto placement
- Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, GCP) or container/orchestration tools (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Exposure to regulated environments, government tech adoption, AI safety/ethics, or compliance standards (FedRAMP, NIST, etc.)
- Experience shipping code in full-stack, backend, or AI application contexts
- Strong communication skills for technical documentation and cross-functional collaboration
Interview Process
After submitting your application, the team reviews your CV and statement of exceptional work. If your application passes this stage, you will be invited to a 15 minute interview (“phone interview”) during which a member of our team will ask some basic questions. If you clear the initial phone interview, you will enter the main process, which consists of 2 technical interviews and 1 project deep-dive interview:
- Practical coding assessment in a language of your choice.
- A Live debugging session
- Project deep-dive: Present and answer questions about exceptional work that you’ve done.
- Meet and greet with the wider team.
Our goal is to finish the main process within one week. Final interviews will be conducted in person.
Annual Salary Range
$165,000 - $200,000
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. For details on data processing, view our Recruitment Privacy Notice.