Real job — pulled straight from xAI’s careers page · Verified August 9, 2026 · No reposts.
Job description
xAI is hiring a Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure — a full-time, based in Palo Alto, CA role ($150k–$400k). Apply directly on xAI's careers page below.
Software Engineer - Search Infrastructure
Location: Palo Alto, California
Department: Engineering
SpaceXAI’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:
As a backend engineer, you’ll design and build scalable, high-performance systems that power subscriptions infrastructure, new monetized products, user growth, and creator monetization. You’ll work on mission-critical infrastructure that processes millions of transactions, optimizes user acquisition and retention, and enables creators to earn a living through their content. This is a unique opportunity to make a large-scale revenue impact while creating products that users and businesses love.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Design and build large scale search infrastructure (real-time indexing, serving, and data pipelines) that handles massive write and query loads with strict latency and reliability requirements
- Go deep into search internals (indexing, query execution, and relevance) and help shape the technical direction of the core search infrastructure
- Operate production services end to end, including monitoring, debugging, incident response, and performance optimization
- Lead and drive incident responses and recovery with your peers. Review and contribute to incident postmortems and hold a high bar for the same
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- 5+ years developing large-scale infrastructure, distributed systems or experience with storage or hardware architecture.
- Proficient in high performance Rust, C++ or JVM-based languages
- Hands-on experience with search and indexing technologies (Elasticsearch, Lucene, or similar) and an understanding of how they work and why
- Experience with operating system internals, filesystems, networking, or database storage engines
- Obsessed performance, reliability, scalability and quality
- Ability to take full ownership of problems and learn whatever is needed to solve them
- Comfortable moving quickly in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities and tight deadlines
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Contributions to open-source search or infrastructure projects
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
$150,000 - $400,000 USD
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.
SpaceXAI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our Recruitment Privacy Notice.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the salary for Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure at xAI?
The estimated salary range for Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure at xAI is $150,000 - $400,000 USD per year.
What skills are required for Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure at xAI?
The required skills for Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure at xAI include: Rust, C++, Elasticsearch.
What is the seniority level for Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure at xAI?
Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure at xAI is a Senior level position.
How do I apply for Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure at xAI?
You can view the full description and apply for Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure at xAI on EchoJobs: https://echojobs.io/job/xai-software-engineer-search-infrastructure-4xbbx.