---
title: 'Manager, Data Center Operations - Memphis at xAI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/manager-data-center-operations-memphis-xai-southaven-v03zrgp3c269'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Manager, Data Center Operations - Memphis at xAI

- **Company:** xAI
- **Location:** Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- **Posted:** 2026-08-07
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai/jobs/5206598007

## Job description

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 the Data Center Operations Manager, you’ll oversee the data center technicians who keep SpaceXAI's AI infrastructure running smoothly. This role is pivotal in ensuring our systems operate at peak efficiency, supporting the compute power behind our mission. You’ll co-lead a skilled team, manage critical operations, and implement smart, sustainable solutions. We’re looking for someone with technical expertise and a proactive approach to maintain and scale our facilities effectively.

## RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Oversee Site Operations: Manage power, cooling, networking, and hardware deployments to ensure 99.999% uptime for SpaceXAI's AI compute systems, keeping our infrastructure reliable and ready for innovation.
- Guide Your Team: Lead and develop a team of Data Center Operations Technicians through training, performance evaluations, and fostering a collaborative, high-performing environment tied to SpaceXAI's objectives.
- Streamline Processes: Take charge of hardware lifecycles, incident resolution, and inventory management, refining procedures to ensure your team operates with precision and consistency.
- Connect Key Players: Coordinate between technicians, SpaceXAI's AI specialists, and external vendors to integrate new technology and expand capacity seamlessly.
- Drive Sustainable Solutions: Champion energy-efficient practices and sustainability efforts, optimizing resources while supporting the demands of cutting-edge AI workloads.
- Measure Success: Track and report key metrics like uptime, power efficiency, and issue resolution times, using data to enhance site performance and inform decisions.
- Handle Emergencies: Lead the team through urgent situations with clear direction, resolving issues quickly to protect our AI systems from disruption.
- Optimize Operations: Build and refine processes—such as preventative maintenance schedules with vendors and ticket workflows in Jira—to keep operations efficient and scalable.
- Support Expansion: Work with leadership to standardize best practices across sites (if applicable), ensuring operations align with SpaceXAI's ambitious growth plans.

## BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

- 5+ years of experience in data center operations or similar critical environments, with 3+ years managing technical teams.
- Proven ability to lead teams effectively in fast-paced, high-responsibility settings.
- Solid expertise in server hardware, cabling, and data center technologies, from setup to lifecycle management.

## PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

- Experience supporting compute-heavy environments like AI, machine learning, or high-performance computing.
- Proficiency with tools like Jira and managing collaborative workflows across teams.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to explain technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences.
- Familiarity with scripting (e.g., Python, Bash) to automate tasks and boost team efficiency.
- A history of partnering with vendors, scaling operations, and advancing sustainability initiatives.
- Enthusiasm for SpaceXAI's mission to accelerate human discovery and unravel the universe.

## ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

- Ability to thrive in a dynamic, mission-focused environment with occasional on-call duties.
- Willingness to travel to data center locations as needed to support operations.
- Physical capability to handle data center tasks, including lifting up to 50 lbs, standing for long periods, and occasional ladder use

SpaceXAI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our [Recruitment Privacy Notice](https://x.ai/legal/recruitment-privacy-notice).

## About xAI

## Company Overview
- **One‑liner**: xAI builds artificial intelligence systems to accelerate human scientific discovery and “understand the universe,” with products spanning frontier reasoning models, real‑time voice, and generative media.
- **Entity Type**: Private (last funding round: Series E, January 2026; acquired by SpaceX in February 2026)
- **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, USA (additional offices in Seattle, WA; Memphis, TN; London, UK)
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Elon Musk

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Artificial Intelligence (AI research, large language models, voice AI, generative media)
- Target customers: B2B (developers via API), B2C (consumers via Grok on 𝕏, SuperGrok subscriptions), Enterprise & Government (xAI for Government)
- Mission: “To understand the universe” – building AI that extends what humanity can know and do.

## Products & Services
- **Grok (base models)** : A conversational AI assistant modeled after *The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy*, available on the 𝕏 platform and via API.
- **Grok 4 / Grok 4 Heavy**: The most intelligent reasoning models, featuring native tool use and real‑time search integration (SuperGrok and Premium+ tiers).
- **Grok Voice Agent API / Voice Agent Builder**: Create custom voice agents in under two minutes (no‑code) – includes speech‑to‑text, text‑to‑speech, custom voice cloning, and multilingual support.
- **Grok Imagine API**: State‑of‑the‑art video generation API (quality, cost, latency).
- **Grok‑1.5 / Grok‑2 / Grok‑2 mini**: Earlier model releases with improved reasoning and 128K context length.
- **PromptIDE**: An integrated development environment for prompt engineering and interpretability research.
- **xAI for Government**: A suite of frontier AI products tailored for U.S. government customers.
- **Colossus Supercomputer**: 200,000‑GPU cluster built in 122 days, used for training xAI models; now also leased to Anthropic (Colossus 1 agreement).

All products are delivered as SaaS, API, and model weights (open‑source release of Grok‑1).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Funding**: 
  - Series B (May 2024): $6 B 
  - Series C (Dec 2024): $6 B (led by A16Z, BlackRock, Fidelity, Kingdom Holdings, Lightspeed, MGX, Morgan Stanley, OIA, QIA, Sequoia, Valor, Vy Capital, others)
  - Series E (Jan 2026): $20 B
  - Acquisition by SpaceX announced Feb 2, 2026 (terms not disclosed).
- **Key Metric**: Total disclosed funding ~$32 B; annual revenue not publicly available.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: A16Z, BlackRock, Fidelity, Sequoia Capital, Morgan Stanley, Kingdom Holdings, Lightspeed, MGX, Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Anthropic (Colossus deal), U.S. Department of War (selected Dec 2025).
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Rapid scaling from founding to 200K‑GPU cluster in 122 days.
  - Over 214 open roles listed on Greenhouse as of mid‑2026.
  - #1 on Big Bench Audio (Grok 4 audio performance).
  - Expanded into voice agents, video generation, and government verticals within 3 years.
  - Acquisition by SpaceX signals deep integration with space‑tech resources.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Compute infrastructure**: Colossus supercomputer – one of the largest GPU clusters in existence, enabling faster training and larger models.
- **Model performance**: Grok 4 claims “most intelligent model in the world” with top benchmarks (Big Bench Audio #1).
- **Vertical integration**: Tight coupling with 𝕏 platform for data, distribution, and real‑time world knowledge.
- **Speed of execution**: “Move quickly and fix things” culture; built Colossus in 122 days.
- **Government contracts**: Early access to public‑sector AI markets (U.S. Department of War).
- **Talent density**: Small, focused team of researchers and engineers; in‑person work accelerates iteration.

## Strategic Focus
- **Continue advancing frontier reasoning** (Grok 4 Heavy, next‑gen models).
- **Expand voice and multimodal APIs** for developers (Voice Agent Builder, Custom Voices Library).
- **Deepen government / defense partnerships** (xAI for Government, Department of War).
- **Scale infrastructure** post‑acquisition via SpaceX resources.
- **Remain “open” where strategic** (open‑source release of Grok‑1 weights).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Ambitious goals, fast execution” – rejects consensus in favor of first‑principles reasoning. In‑person work prioritized (Palo Alto, Seattle, Memphis, London).
- **Benefits**: 
  - Competitive cash + equity compensation.
  - Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance.
  - 401(k) plan, fertility benefits, flexible vacation.
  - Visa sponsorship offered.
- **Engineering culture**: No recruiters for assessments – applications reviewed directly by technical team. Interview process: application → screening → technical interviews → offer.
- **Mission‑driven**: Opportunity to work on frontier AI models that aim to “advance humanity.”
- **Perks**: In‑person collaboration, fast‑paced environment, ownership of meaningful projects.

## Sources
1. [x.ai/company](https://x.ai/company)
2. [x.ai/careers](https://x.ai/careers)
3. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai)
4. [x.ai/news](https://x.ai/news)
5. [x.ai/careers/open-roles](https://x.ai/careers/open-roles)

## Other roles at xAI

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- [Legal Operations Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/legal-operations-specialist-xai-palo-alto-yvgq5sxqmheq) — Palo Alto, CA
- [Agency Development Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/agency-development-manager-xai-new-york-6zsw61w04xfw) — New York, NY
- [AI Tutor - Design Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-tutor-design-specialist-xai-global-gyys8ysv19rj) — Global
- [AI Tutor - Humanities](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-tutor-humanities-xai-global-f8b939y59f97) — Global
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