---
title: 'Senior IAM Engineer at xAI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-iam-engineer-xai-palo-alto-hma9xejy3wpq'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-14'
---

# Senior IAM Engineer at xAI

- **Company:** xAI
- **Location:** Palo Alto, CA / Austin, TX / Washington, DC
- **Posted:** 2026-07-06
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-14
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai/jobs/5180827007

## 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:

We are looking for a Senior Identity and Access Management (IAM) Engineer to play a critical role in designing, implementing, and maturing our enterprise IAM ecosystem. As a Senior IAM Engineer, you will serve as a key subject matter expert (SME) within the broader Information Security organization, driving secure, scalable, and user-friendly identity solutions in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. You will own complex IAM initiatives end-to-end — from strategy and architecture to implementation and optimization — while collaborating closely with Security, Infrastructure, Application, and Engineering teams. This is a high-impact, hands-on role suited for someone who thrives in ambiguity and takes extreme ownership of outcomes.

## RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Design and implement enterprise-grade IAM solutions across on-prem, cloud, and SaaS environments.
- Architect and deliver end-to-end federation strategies using modern protocols (SAML, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SCIM).
- Lead integration and optimization of key IAM platforms including SailPoint, Okta, PingOne, Microsoft Entra ID, and other tools.
- Drive Identity Lifecycle Management (LCM), Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Privileged Access Management (PAM), and Just-In-Time access initiatives.
- Develop automation scripts and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) to improve provisioning, governance, and operational efficiency.
- Serve as the primary IAM SME, providing technical guidance, troubleshooting complex issues, and mentoring other team members.
- Work closely with InfoSec, Compliance, and Engineering teams to meet audit, regulatory, and security requirements.
- Continuously improve IAM architecture, processes, and capabilities in a dynamic, fast-moving organization.
- Support cloud IAM strategies across AWS, GCP, and other platforms.
- Participate in on-call rotation and incident response related to identity systems.

## BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

- 6+ years of hands-on experience in Identity and Access Management.
- Thorough understanding of IAM principles and modern security concepts, including Zero Trust, Least Privilege, Adaptive/Risk-Based Authentication, Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), Continuous Access Evaluation, and Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR).
- Strong expertise in IAM protocols and standards: SAML, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SCIM, and other federation protocols.
- Strong expertise in IAM and federation protocols, with proven experience in architecting and implementing end-to-end federation solutions.
- Hands-on experience with major IAM platforms, particularly SailPoint, Okta, PingOne, and Microsoft identity solutions.
- Strong working knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS and GCP), Cloud IAM services, Terraform, and CI/CD practices.
- Strong scripting and programming skills in Python and JavaScript/TypeScript, with extensive experience developing IAM workflows, automation, and integrations.
- Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives and drive projects from design through implementation.

This high-visibility role requires the ability to thrive in a fast-paced and ambiguous environment. The ideal candidate demonstrates extreme ownership, a collaborative no-ego mindset, and is comfortable taking the lead. This is a significant opportunity to shape the future of identity and security at the company.

## COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

$100,000 - $258,000 USD

Base salary is just one part of our total rewards package at SpaceXAI, which also includes equity, comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, and various other discounts and perks. 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

- [AI Tutor - Video (Weekend)](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-tutor-video-weekend-xai-global-ah7fpybc60zs) — Global
- [Expert Team Lead, Human Data Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/expert-team-lead-human-data-operations-xai-asia-europe-international-us-dd18bx8p1129) — Asia / Europe / International / US
- [Team Lead, Human Data Operations - Post Training](https://feeny.ai/job/team-lead-human-data-operations-post-training-xai-asia-europe-international-us-7mqwd37c5cse) — Asia / Europe / International / US
- [Controls Technician (Physical Infrastructure) - Memphis](https://feeny.ai/job/controls-technician-physical-infrastructure-memphis-xai-southaven-62rxn4p3hs02) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- [Fraud Analyst (Sat-Weds)](https://feeny.ai/job/fraud-analyst-sat-weds-xai-palo-alto-ypm3merq7y8w) — Palo Alto, CA / New York, NY
- [Agency Development Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/agency-development-manager-xai-austin-6zsw61w04xfw) — Austin, TX / New York, NY
- [AI Tutor - Design](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-tutor-design-xai-global-gyys8ysv19rj) — Global
- [AI Tutor - Humanities](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-tutor-humanities-xai-global-f8b939y59f97) — Global
- [Network Operations Center Specialist - Memphis](https://feeny.ai/job/network-operations-center-specialist-memphis-xai-southaven-5eaecc9mwq8n) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN
- [Hardware Failure Analysis Engineer - Memphis](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-failure-analysis-engineer-memphis-xai-southaven-111jdc07jvwy) — Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN