--- title: 'Software Engineer, Data Center - Memphis at xAI' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-data-center-memphis-xai-southaven-qwb85dq1n483' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-19' --- # Software Engineer, Data Center - Memphis at xAI - **Company:** xAI - **Location:** Southaven, MS / Memphis, TN - **Posted:** 2026-08-11 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-19 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai/jobs/5209858007 ## 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 builds the internal systems and platforms that keep our data centers running at the scale and reliability required for frontier AI training and inference. We partner closely with datacenter operations, research, and infrastructure teams to deliver high-leverage tools that turn raw operational data into clear insight and action. ## RESPONSIBILITIES: - Build and operate the software stacks that make site operations scalable, auditable, and fast — including repair trackers, vendor turnback workflows, operational dashboards, and their integrations. Your users are the technicians, managers, NOC operators, and leadership who run the fleet. - Design, build, and operate multi-service production systems (UI, APIs, data pipelines, auth, and on-call) for systems such as SRT-style repair/maintenance trackers and vendor turnover/turnback state machines. - Own correctness of operational state: node state accuracy, queue ownership, and audit trails — the data that decides what work happens on the floor. - Build and maintain integrations with ticketing, inventory/rack systems, telemetry stores, and vendor portals. - Keep the tools themselves reliable: uptime, data integrity, reconciliation, access control, and safe deploys. - Embed with SiteOps and NOC users; measure workflow adoption, not just feature delivery. ## BASIC QUALIFICATIONS: - Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related fields. - 3+ years building and operating production software (backend and/or full-stack). - Strong fundamental knowledge of computer science - data structures, algorithms, operating systems and networking. - Strong proficiency in at least one programming language e.g. Rust, Python, JavaScript, Java, C++, etc. - Experience designing and developing RESTful APIs for mission-critical applications. - Experience working with at least one database like Postgres, MongoDB, MySQL, DynamoDB, etc. - Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams. - Experience working in cloud platforms like GCP, Microsoft Azure, AWS, OCI or similar. - Experience using observability tools and dashboards like New Relic, Splunk, Grafana, etc. - Experience writing unit tests and integration tests. ## PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: - Full-stack or backend + data experience, especially with workflow and state-machine systems. - Experience automating deployments using CI/CD tools like Azure Devops, ArgoCD, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, etc. - Experience building high-correctness operational UIs where a wrong value can dispatch a human to the wrong rack. - On-call discipline and a track record of treating internal platforms with production rigor. - Experience designing and shipping multi-service systems (APIs, data stores, and at least one of: UI, pipelines, or auth). - Experience delivering high-quality internal tools in rapidly changing environments (as a tech lead, former founder, etc.). - Proven ownership of correctness-sensitive systems — state machines, workflows, or operational data where inaccurate state has real-world impact. - Experience integrating with external systems via APIs (e.g. ticketing, inventory, telemetry, or vendor portals). - MS in Computer Science or related field. - Experience collaborating closely with operations, NOC, and infrastructure teams. - Experience working with performance load testing tools like BlazeMeter, k6, etc. ## ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: - The role is fully onsite in Memphis, TN or Southhaven, MS. Candidates are expected to be located near the area or open to relocation. 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. 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