Senior AI Engineer, Special Programs

SpaceX

Confirmed live today Low trust

Quick summary

Work type: On-site
Location: Washington, DCPalo Alto, CA
Salary: $220,000–$350,000 / yr
Posted: 159 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live today
Nearby: 99+ roles within 25 mi

Market check

Salary context

Above market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $191k

This role $285k

$127k $374k

below market most similar roles pay here above market

This role pays more than 96% of similar roles. Most pay $150,862–$231,187 — the blue band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $285k versus about $191k 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 851 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $130,000–$165,000 across 590 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Senior AI Engineer, Special Programs

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The Sr. AI Engineer, Special Programs - Top Secret Clearance joins the team to own the strategy, execution, and deployment of mission-critical AI solutions for U.S. federal agencies. You will design, build, and optimize integrations between AI frontier models like the Grok family and government systems while ensuring safety, transparency, and ethical standards. Daily responsibilities include scoping product specifications, benchmarking models, developing evaluation frameworks, and performing system prompt tuning or fine-tuning for secure, scalable deployment. You will build internal tooling, analyze request logs, and ship production-grade code. Required skills include proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript, secure API design, and infrastructure-as-code tools like Pulumi or Terraform. The role solves the technical challenge of making high-stakes AI models maximally useful within regulated, secure government data environments.

What does a AI Engineer earn in California?

Median $246150 from 100 postings across 17 companies.

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Skills

Python TypeScript Machine Learning AI Fine-tuning APIs HTTP Pulumi Terraform infrastructure-as-code SDKs Model Evaluation Data Science Scalable Systems

What you'll do

Design and optimize integrations between AI frontier models and government systems or data environments.
Scope product specifications and build AI-powered software for government and enterprise use cases.
Benchmark models and develop evaluation frameworks to assess performance and ensure compliance.
Enhance model performance through system prompt tuning and fine-tuning for secure deployment.
Analyze request logs and system outputs to ensure reliability and auditability.
Build internal tooling to automate repetitive tasks and streamline workflows in secure environments.
Prototype solutions and iterate rapidly based on real-world feedback from agency stakeholders.
Ship production-grade code and features with a focus on speed and measurable impact.

What we're looking for

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 clearance.
U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee (or eligible for Department of State authorization).
6+ years of software engineering experience, ideally in environments requiring high reliability or security (preferred).
Demonstrated success working with government agencies, DoD, or federal contractors on AI, software, or data projects (preferred).
Proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript (preferred).
TOP SECRET CLEARANCE.

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