---
title: 'Rack Design Engineer (Data Center) at xAI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/rack-design-engineer-data-center-xai-southaven-1yr81zz2e2fv'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-19'
---

# Rack Design Engineer (Data Center) at xAI

- **Company:** xAI
- **Location:** Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- **Posted:** 2026-10-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-19
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai/jobs/5255858007

## 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 help humanity understand the universe. Our teams are building the full Super Intelligence stack: from our Colossus supercomputers, to Grok models, to our suite of applications, including 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 comprised 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 a Rack Design Engineer, you will own the rack as a product: structure, power, cooling, service paths, and the physical integration of servers, switches, optics, and liquid cooling from first sketch through production rate.

## RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Own mechanical, structural, and integration design of high-density AI compute racks and associated chassis, frames, busbars, manifolds, and cable/fiber raceways
- Integrate compute, networking, power distribution, and liquid cooling into a buildable, serviceable, high-yield rack architecture
- Design for the in-house manufacturing line: DFM/DFA, fixtures, work instructions, incoming inspection, first article, and production ramp
- Close thermal, structural, and power constraints with cooling, electrical, optical, and network counterparts at the cluster level (CDUs, cold plates, quick disconnects, PDUs/busbars, high-current distribution, tray and bend-radius limits)
- Drive vendor and in-house parts from concept to qualified production, including sheet metal, extrusions, busbar, manifolds, cable management, and rack accessories
- Stand on the floor during prototype and production builds: debug fit, leak, cable dress, airflow/liquid balance, and service time; fold issues into the next revision the same day
- Produce and maintain CAD, BOMs, drawings, and build documentation that a line can run at volume
- Support cluster deployment of the racks you design, including first-site bring-up and feedback into the next hardware generation
- Partner with network, optical, electrical, and firmware teams to deploy custom compute for inference and training across SpaceX programs

## BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related engineering discipline
- 2+ years of professional experience designing electromechanical hardware that was built and shipped (internship and project experience counts toward this if the hardware was physically produced)

## PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

- Ownership of rack, chassis, or similarly dense electromechanical products through prototype and production
- Experience or background in ethernet switching, networking, interconnects, and high power distribution
- CAD fluency in SolidWorks, Creo, or NX, with released drawings a shop and a factory can build from
- AI / HPC / GPU rack design: NVIDIA HGX/GB-class, custom OCP, or equivalent high-power liquid-cooled compute
- Liquid cooling design: cold plates, manifolds, CDUs, quick disconnects, leak detection, and coolant compatibility
- High-power rack electrical integration: busbar, PDU, 48V, high-current 3-phase, grounding, and service safety
- Cable and fiber physical design inside the rack (MPO/OSFP dress, bend radius, service loops) in partnership with optical and network engineers
- Experience taking a rack from NPI onto an in-house manufacturing line (fixtures, cycle time, poka-yoke, rework loops)
- Thermal and structural analysis (CFD, FEA) used to make a design decision
- Time at a high-velocity hardware organization: AI/GPU cloud, custom compute, or an OEM/ODM team that owned the product end to end
- Comfort in a factory or datacenter build environment, including first articles, yield, and hardware debug on the floor

## 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 lift up to 25 lbs. unassisted and work around active factory and datacenter hardware

SpaceXSI 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

- [Certified Weld Inspector (CWI) - Memphis](https://feeny.ai/job/certified-weld-inspector-cwi-memphis-xai-southaven-76w7pgjfdgpx) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- [IT Network Engineer - Memphis](https://feeny.ai/job/it-network-engineer-memphis-xai-memphis-jva5yv0emayw) — Memphis, TN
- [Manager, Supercomputer Site Reliability Engineering - Memphis](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-supercomputer-site-reliability-engineering-memphis-xai-southaven-qvn5x4c3x7nw) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- [Data Center Operations Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/data-center-operations-technician-xai-southaven-anb7q2cn8wvy) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- [Lead Data Center Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-data-center-technician-xai-southaven-7qwtc30mwapk) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- [Linux Data Center Operations Technician - Memphis](https://feeny.ai/job/linux-data-center-operations-technician-memphis-xai-southaven-t8135j8zg88s) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- [Senior Linux Data Center Technician - Memphis](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-linux-data-center-technician-memphis-xai-southaven-g102dbk7za6f) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- [Site Reliability Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/site-reliability-engineer-xai-southaven-t765rmjcyats) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- [Data Visualization Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/data-visualization-engineer-xai-palo-alto-nb81ep4q7qtr) — Palo Alto, CA
- [Supervisor, Critical Facility Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/supervisor-critical-facility-operations-xai-southaven-6g4efmsngca5) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN