Sr. AI Engineer, Special Programs - Top Secret Clearance

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 enabling human life on Mars. SR. AI ENGINEER, SPECIAL PROGRAMS - TOP SECRET CLEARANCE Sr. AI engineers work directly with our end customers to own strategy, execution, and deployment of mission-critical AI solutions for U.S federal agencies. You'll work closely with product, research, infrastructure, and legal/governance teams to deliver high-stakes projects to make current AI and future models maximally useful for missions while upholding safety, transparency, and ethical standards. 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. BASIC QUALIFICATIONS: 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 SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: 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. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed. 20% travel may be required to government sites. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: Pay range: Sr. AI Engineer: $220,000.0