Software Engineer - Search Ranking
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Application is a CV plus a mandatory 'statement of exceptional work' — reviewed by engineers, not recruiters. Then a 15–30-minute phone screen with an engineer, and a main loop xAI's own job postings target to finish within ONE week: a coding assessment in your language of choice, two role-specific technical deep-dive sessions, and a 'Meet the Team' round where you present your exceptional work and your vision for xAI to a small audience. Coding is applied class design (key-value stores with transactions, LRU caches, iterators) that hardens via mid-problem extensions — completeness and bug-free code beat big-O talk — and design rounds demand working code in the same session. There is no dedicated behavioral or values round; decisions land within days with no hiring committee. Some loops run all-remote on Google Meet, others add an in-person Palo Alto onsite.
Read the full xAI interview process →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:
The X Search team is responsible for building and operating the core search engine that powers discovery on X. We own the full end-to-end search stack — from real-time retrieval and indexing to ranking and the end-user search experience.
Our goal is to create the most relevant, fast, and intelligent search experience on the internet by combining state-of-the-art information retrieval systems with Grok’s reasoning capabilities.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Build search and retrieval algorithms that scale to millions of users
- Build and operate large scale search engine and search infrastructure
- Train state of the art ML ranking models
- Integrate Grok in search systems and products
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Tech Stack: Python, Go, Rust
- Have worked with vector databases, search indices, or similar data stores for search applications
- Have worked on large-scale search systems
- Have deep experience building or working with production ML systems
- Take full ownership of problems and learn whatever you need to solve them
- Can move quickly in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities and tight deadlines
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
$180,000 - $440,000 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.