---
title: 'Optical Engineer - Memphis at xAI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/optical-engineer-memphis-xai-southaven-ams0xnm2mrs0'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-12'
---

# Optical Engineer - Memphis at xAI

- **Company:** xAI
- **Location:** Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- **Posted:** 2026-10-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai/jobs/5255811007

## Job description

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today, SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary and expanding consciousness to the stars.

SpaceXSI is building Super Intelligence to understand the universe and help expand humanity’s knowledge and capabilities. We work across the full Super Intelligence stack: compute (Colossus supercomputers), models (Grok), and applications (Grok Bot, Grok Build, Grok Imagine, Grok Voice, and X). We're creating a powerful flywheel where more compute trains better models, better models power more useful products, and what we learn from people using those products shapes what we build next.

## ABOUT THE ROLE:

The Data Center Engineering team designs training and inference compute clusters from first principles, pushing thermal, electrical, and optical systems to the limit of physics. We operate as a highly cross-disciplinary team of mechanical, electrical, optical, and software engineers, all working to maximize the efficiency, reliability, and deployment speed of terrestrial computing to serve rapidly scaling demand.

This team owns compute architecture, datacenter network design, rack builds, connectivity, in-house design of our own computers, and the manufacturing line that builds that compute. As an Optical Engineer, you will own the physical optical layer of that computer: fiber layout, link design, connector and polarity architecture, optics selection, and production of a plant that can be built, tested, and repaired at AI cluster scale.

## RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Own end-to-end optical and fiber design for AI training and inference fabrics: fiber cabling, cassette/panel architecture, polarity, breakout, reach, and connector strategy (MPO-12/16, SN, MDC, LC, OSFP / QSFP-DD)
- Write and verify link budgets for scale-out and scale-up interconnect (SMF/MMF, AOC/DAC, DR/FR/LR, InfiniBand and Ethernet), including loss, reflections, FEC, and realistic install margins
- Develop and implement factory tests for optical interconnects including insertion loss, return loss, and polarization
- Select and qualify optics, fiber, and connectivity (transceivers, patch, trunks, cassettes, harnesses); own vendor bring-up, failure analysis, and fleet reliability of the optical layer
- Deploy and verify end-to-end optical interconnect into the manufacturing line
- Lead commissioning and debug: inspect/clean, power meter, OTDR, BER/FEC stats, and volume failure modes (dirty connectors, wrong polarity, wrong map, damaged end-face)
- Evolve connectivity toward the next speed and density (800G / 1.6T, CPO/NPO awareness, tighter reaches, higher fiber count per rack)
- Work with mechanical and network teams to design structured cabling and raceways with the rack and facilities teams: tray fill, bend radius, pre-term vs field-term, labeling, and a plant that can be built and repaired at hall scale

## BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, optical engineering, physics, or a related engineering discipline
- 2+ years of professional experience in fiber layout, optical link design, and/or datacenter/HPC optical engineering

## PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

- Demonstrated ownership of fiber or optical design that was installed and turned up in a datacenter, HPC, or AI-compute environment
- Working command of single-mode vs multimode, MPO polarity, insertion/return loss, and 100G+ transceiver classes
- Hands-on optical test: inspect/clean, power meter, OTDR or equivalent
- Fiber interconnect ownership for AI / high-compute clusters (GPU scale-out fabric, InfiniBand NDR/XDR, RoCE Ethernet 400/800G)
- High-density pre-terminated trunk/cassette design and rack-to-spine optical mapping at hall scale
- Optics vendor qualification at volume (OSFP, 800G DR8/2xFR4, AOCs, and the failure modes that show up in a real fleet)
- Experience designing optical harnesses or cassettes for a manufacturing line, including test coverage and yield
- DWDM / campus DCI for cluster-to-cluster or building-to-building connectivity
- Familiarity with CPO/NPO, linear-drive optics, and next-gen packaging as it hits the rack
- Time at a high-velocity AI cloud, GPU cloud, or custom-compute hardware team

## ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

- Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed to support design releases, line bring-up, and cluster deployments
- Must be willing to travel to manufacturing and datacenter sites
- Ability to work in active datacenter and factory environments, including fiber inspection, cleaning, and live debug

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)

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