AI Engineer, Special Programs

SpaceX

Confirmed live today Low trust

Quick summary

Work type: On-site
Location: Washington, DCPalo Alto, CA
Salary: $125,000–$220,000 / yr
Posted: 136 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live today
Nearby: 99+ roles within 25 mi

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Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $189k

This role $172k

$112k most similar roles pay here $243k

This role pays more than 50% of similar roles. Most pay $148,175–$230,266 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $172k versus about $189k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft with the mission of enabling humans to become a multi-planetary species. It operates the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, as well as the Starlink satellite internet constellation.

SpaceX currently has 793 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $130,000–$165,000 across 557 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · AI Engineer, Special Programs

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The AI Engineer, Special Programs joins a team dedicated to engineering and deploying AI capabilities for U.S. federal agencies. In this role, you will design, build, and optimize integrations between frontier models like the Grok family and government systems while developing custom SDKs, APIs, and developer tools. You will collaborate with product, research, infrastructure, and legal teams to ensure safety and transparency in AI deployment. The work involves translating ambiguous stakeholder needs into production-grade code for federal civilian or regulated environments. Key technical requirements include proficiency in Python, experience with large language models, generative AI, agentic systems, and cloud platforms like AWS, GCP, or Azure. You will also utilize containerization tools such as Docker and Kubernetes to solve complex problems within the specific domain of government technology and public-interest infrastructure.

What does a AI Engineer earn in California?

Median $246150 from 90 postings across 11 companies.

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Skills

Python Large Language Models Generative AI Agentic Systems AWS GCP Azure Docker Kubernetes API Orchestration SDKs AI Safety Red-teaming open-source

What you'll do

Design, build, and optimize integrations between frontier AI models and government systems.
Develop custom SDKs, APIs, developer tools, and documentation for government and enterprise users.
Prototype solutions and iterate rapidly based on feedback from agency stakeholders.
Translate ambiguous stakeholder requirements into concrete technical solutions.
Write production-grade code with a focus on speed, simplicity, and measurable impact.
Implement AI features while upholding safety, transparency, and ethical standards.
Manage the deployment of AI capabilities within regulated government data environments.

What we're looking for

Bachelor's degree in computer science or another STEM discipline, or 2+ years of professional software development experience.
Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret Security Clearance.
Must be a U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, or eligible for required export control authorizations.
1+ years of hands-on software engineering experience building scalable systems, APIs, or AI/ML applications (preferred).
Experience with large language models, generative AI, or agentic systems in research or production (preferred).
Familiarity with government technology environments, cloud platforms, containerization, or API orchestration (preferred).
Strong product sensibility and ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical partners (preferred).
Prior work on AI safety, governance, red-teaming, or civic tech (preferred).