AI Engineer, Special Programs

SpaceX

Confirmed live yesterday Trusted

Quick summary

Work type: On-site
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Salary: $135,000–$230,000 / yr
Posted: 113 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live yesterday
Nearby: 99+ roles within 25 mi

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Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $185k

This role $182k

$124k most similar roles pay here $241k

This role pays less than 52% of similar roles. Most pay $149,875–$220,567 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $182k versus about $185k 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 680 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $130,000–$165,000 across 442 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · AI Engineer, Special Programs

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As an AI Engineer, Special Programs - Top Secret Clearance, you will join a team dedicated to delivering mission-critical AI solutions for U.S. federal agencies. You will be responsible for designing, building, and optimizing integrations between frontier models like the Grok family and government systems while ensuring safety and ethical standards. Your daily work involves identifying pain points, scoping product specifications, benchmarking models, developing evaluation frameworks, and performing system prompt tuning or fine-tuning for secure deployment. You will also build internal tools to automate workflows and analyze request logs for reliability. The role requires proficiency in Python and TypeScript, a strong understanding of the HTTP protocol, and experience with infrastructure-as-code tools like Pulumi or Terraform. This position addresses high-stakes technical challenges within regulated government environments to ensure reliable, scalable, and auditable AI performance.

What does a AI Engineer earn in California?

Median $246150 from 84 postings across 12 companies.

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Skills

Python TypeScript Machine Learning Fine-tuning API Design HTTP Terraform Pulumi infrastructure-as-code Software Engineering Scalable Systems

What you'll do

Design and optimize integrations between frontier AI models and government systems and data environments.
Define product specifications and build AI-powered software for specific government or enterprise use cases.
Develop evaluation frameworks to benchmark model performance and ensure compliance with customer standards.
Improve model performance through system prompt tuning and fine-tuning for secure, scalable deployment.
Analyze request logs and system outputs to ensure reliability and auditability of AI responses.
Build internal tools to automate repetitive tasks and streamline workflows in secure environments.
Prototype solutions and iterate rapidly based on direct feedback from agency stakeholders.
Ship production-grade code with a focus on speed, simplicity, and measurable impact.

What we're looking for

Bachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, physics, or data science.
At least 1 year of experience building scalable systems, APIs, or AI/ML applications.
Active Top Secret or Top Secret SCI clearance (preferably with a full scope polygraph).
Proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript.
Experience implementing AI products using APIs, back-end systems, and front-end interfaces.
Deep understanding of machine learning fundamentals including model evaluation, training, and fine-tuning for production.
Must be a U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, or authorized asylee/refugee per ITAR regulations.
TOP SECRET CLEARANCE.

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