{"id":1839403,"url":"https://alion.io/job/spacex-sr-ai-engineer-special-programs-top-secret-clearance-2","title":"Sr. AI Engineer, Special Programs - Top Secret Clearance","company":{"id":66,"name":"SpaceX","domain":"spacex.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/spacex","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":90,"open_postings":22,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.182,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":82,"computed_at":"2026-10-20T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"AI/ML","role_family":"AI/ML","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Washington, United States","Palo Alto, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":220000,"max":350000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":350000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":6,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Fine-tuning","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":true},{"name":"Pulumi","optional":true},{"name":"Python","optional":true},{"name":"Terraform","optional":true},{"name":"TypeScript","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-05-21T20:08:08Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-29","last_verified_at":"2026-10-20T15:48:28Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":151,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":151},"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 enabling human life on Mars.\nSR. AI ENGINEER, SPECIAL PROGRAMS - TOP SECRET CLEARANCE\nSr. AI engineers work directly with our end customers to own strategy, execution, and deployment of mission-critical AI solutions for U.S federal agencies. You'll work closely with product, research, infrastructure, and legal/governance teams to deliver high-stakes projects to make current AI and future models maximally useful for missions while upholding safety, transparency, and ethical standards.\nRESPONSIBILITIES:\nDesign, build, and optimize integrations between AI frontier models (e.g., Grok family) and government systems, platforms, and data environments.\nIdentify pain points, scoping product specifications, and designing and building AI-powered software for government or enterprise use cases.\nBenchmark models and develop evaluation frameworks to assess performance and address weaknesses, ensuring compliance with customer standards.\nEnhancing model performance through system prompt tuning or fine-tuning, with an eye toward secure and scalable deployment.\nAnalyze request logs, prompt data, or system outputs to ensure reliability and audibility.\nBuild internal tooling to streamline workflows and automate repetitive tasks in secure environments.\nPartner with agency stakeholders to understand requirements, prototype solutions, and iterate rapidly based on real-world feedback.\nShip production-grade code and features with a bias toward speed, simplicity, and measurable impact.\nBASIC QUALIFICATIONS:\nBachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, physics, or data science.\n5+ years of hands-on software engineering experience building scalable systems, APIs, or AI/ML applications.\nActive Top-Secret or Top-Secret SCI.\nPREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:\nDemonstrated success working with government agencies, DoD, or federal contractors on AI, software, or data projects.\n6+ years of software engineering experience, ideally in environments requiring high reliability or security.\nExpertise in designing, implementing, and maintaining robust, scalable, and secure AI-driven solutions that meet stringent compliance and operational standards.\nProven experience implementing AI or machine learning products with APIs, back-end systems, and front-end interfaces.\nProficiency in Python and/or TypeScript.\nStrong understanding of the HTTP protocol and secure API design.\nRobust engineering background, preferably in fields such as Computer Science, Mathematics, Software Engineering, Physics, or Data Science.\nExperience building evaluation frameworks for AI systems and assessing capabilities in regulated or high-stakes contexts.\nDeep understanding of machine learning fundamentals-model evaluation, training, and fine-tuning-with a focus on production-ready deployments.\nHistory of deploying machine learning models to production, ideally in secure or cloud-based government environments.\nExpertise in writing developer documentation or maintaining SDKs for technical audiences, including government developers.\nAbility to work with massive datasets, optimize system performance, and scale solutions for high-throughput, mission-critical workloads.\nFamiliarity with infrastructure-as-code tools like Pulumi or Terraform, particularly in secure or government-aligned deployments.\nAdaptability to shifting priorities and requirements in a fast-paced, mission-driven startup setting.\nExcellent verbal and written communication skills in English, with experience documenting technical solutions for diverse stakeholders.\nADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:\nMust be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed.\n20% travel may be required to government sites.\nCOMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:\nPay range: \nSr. AI Engineer: $220,000.00 - $350,000.00/per year \nYour actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.\nBase salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.\nITAR REQUIREMENTS:\nTo conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here. \nSpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.\nApplicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to .","description_format":"text","description_chars":6058,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":6,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"All levels","optional":true}]},"benefits":["Life insurance","Parental leave","Retirement plans","Stock options"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Satellite Communications","Launch Services","Satellite Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-04T15:48:36Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":23,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.639,"p_room":0.36,"age_days":151,"expected_fill_days":82,"reasons":["conf:2","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-20T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":350000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacex-sr-ai-engineer-special-programs-top-secret-clearance-2","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacex-sr-ai-engineer-special-programs-top-secret-clearance-2.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-20T15:57:44Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":18176,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-21T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":66},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=66"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fspacex-sr-ai-engineer-special-programs-top-secret-clearance-2"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fspacex-sr-ai-engineer-special-programs-top-secret-clearance-2"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fspacex-sr-ai-engineer-special-programs-top-secret-clearance-2"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/spacex-sr-ai-engineer-special-programs-top-secret-clearance-2\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fspacex-sr-ai-engineer-special-programs-top-secret-clearance-2"}]}