AI Engineer, Special Programs - Top Secret Clearance

SpaceX

Quick summary

Work type
On-site
Location
Washington, DC
Salary
$125,000–$220,000 / yr
Posted
today

Market check

Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $204k
This role $172k
$110k most similar roles pay here $261k

This role pays less than 66% of similar roles. Most pay $162,000–$246,150 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $172k versus about $204k 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 604 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $130,000–$155,000 across 440 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · AI Engineer, Special Programs - Top Secret Clearance

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The AI Engineer, Special Programs role at a leading technology firm involves working closely with U.S. federal agencies to develop and deploy mission-critical AI solutions. This senior-level position requires collaboration across product, research, infrastructure, and legal teams to ensure compliance with stringent safety, transparency, and ethical standards. Daily responsibilities include identifying pain points, designing software solutions, benchmarking models, enhancing performance through fine-tuning, and building internal tooling for secure environments. The ideal candidate should have expertise in Python or TypeScript, a strong understanding of HTTP protocols, and experience with infrastructure-as-code tools like Pulumi or Terraform. This role demands deep knowledge of machine learning fundamentals and the ability to deploy production-ready models in secure government environments, along with active Top Secret clearance and SCI eligibility.

Skills

Python TypeScript HTTP API design Terraform Pulumi CI/CD machine learning model evaluation training fine-tuning secure API design data analysis system performance optimization massive datasets production deployment cloud-based environments SDK maintenance developer documentation AI evaluation frameworks

What you'll do

  • Identify pain points and design AI-powered software for government use cases.
  • Develop evaluation frameworks to assess model performance and address weaknesses.
  • Enhance model performance through fine-tuning, focusing on secure deployment.
  • Analyze system outputs to ensure reliability and audibility in high-stakes contexts.
  • Build internal tooling to automate tasks and streamline workflows securely.

What we're looking for

  • Active Top-Secret or Top-Secret SCI clearance with full scope polygraph.
  • 6+ years of software engineering experience in secure, high-reliability environments.
  • Expertise in designing and deploying robust AI-driven solutions meeting compliance standards.
  • Proficiency in Python/TypeScript, HTTP protocol, and secure API design.
  • Experience building evaluation frameworks for AI systems in regulated contexts.

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