Mission Manager - Government (Cleared)

<div class="content-intro"><h3><strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">About xAI</span></strong></h3> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">xAI’s mission is to create AI systems that can accurately understand the universe and aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Our team is small, highly motivated, and focused on engineering excellence. This organization is for individuals who appreciate challenging themselves and thrive on curiosity. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">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. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">All employees are expected to have strong communication skills. They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates.</span></p></div><h3><strong>ABOUT THE ROLE:</strong></h3> <p>Mission Managers collaborate directly with US and Allied Government customers to strategize and execute mission-critical AI solutions.&nbsp;You'll support new business proposals from requirements validation through solution design, prototyping, development, and rollout. As part of a team of Applied engineers, AI Researchers, and fellow Mission Managers, you'll connect disparate data points into a clear map of customer challenges—and align them with xAI products or collaborate with engineers to build new ones.</p> <p>Top candidates bring a technical foundation, analytical mindset, and strong problem-solving curiosity. They exhibit user empathy and a hands-on approach to deliver results for customers.&nbsp;In this role, you'll tackle problems demanding curiosity, analytical thinking, product intuition, and deep user empathy to empower customers.</p> <h3>RESPONSIBILITIES:</h3> <ul> <li>Leading problem discovery and product scoping for key customers, often on-site</li> <li>Meeting customers on-site to deploy xAI models/products in their environments or integrate their software with xAI's cloud, alongside engineers</li> <li>Identifying pain points, scoping specs, and building LLM-powered software for government use cases</li> <li>Optimizing model performance via prompt tuning or fine-tuning for secure, scalable deployment, <strong>and working with SMEs at the customer to improve this process</strong></li> <li>Analyzing logs, prompts, or outputs to ensure system reliability and effectiveness</li> </ul> <h3><strong>BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:</strong></h3> <ul> <li><strong>Government Partnership Experience</strong>: Proven success collaborating with government agencies, DoD, or federal contractors on AI, software, or data initiatives</li> <li><strong>Clearance Preferred</strong>: Active U.S. security clearance (e.g., Secret, Top Secret, Top Secret/SCI) or eligibility to obtain one</li> <li>Expertise in designing, implementing, and maintaining secure, scalable AI solutions that comply with rigorous standards</li> <li>Ability to convert business, product, or mission needs into engineering solutions for government or enterprise clients</li> <li>Strong engineering background in areas like Computer Science, Mathematics, Software Engineering, Physics, or Data Science</li> <li>Experience in Software Engineering or Machine Learning</li> </ul> <h3><strong>PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:</strong></h3> <ul> <li>Experience partnering with engineering teams to design, scope, and deploy complex AI solutions</li> <li>Background working with National Security customers, ideally as a former end-user of similar AI/software systems</li> <li>Skill in creating user manuals or onboarding materials for non-technical audiences</li> <li>Proficiency handling large datasets, optimizing performance, and scaling for high-throughput, critical workloads</li> <li>Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools like Pulumi or Terraform, especially in secure/government environments</li> <li>Passion for solving complex, real-world problems—especially in government missions—delivering AI-driven impact</li> <li>Low ego, prioritizing national security missions over personal credit</li> <li>Skill in structuring vague problems and communicating them clearly to engineers and customers</li> <li>Proficiency in programming/scripting (e.g., Python, SQL, TypeScript) for tool-building, data analysis, or debugging</li> <li>Adaptability to evolving priorities in a fast-paced, mission-oriented startup</li> <li>Strong communication to engage government stakeholders, users, and officers—clarifying requirements and driving project success</li> </ul> <h3><strong>COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:</strong></h3> <p>$150,000 - $350,000 USD&nbsp;</p> <p>Base salary is just one part of our total rewards package at xAI, which also includes equity, comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short &amp; long-term disability insurance, life insurance, and various other discounts and perks.</p><div class="content-conclusion"><p><em>xAI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our&nbsp;</em><em><a href="https://x.ai/legal/recruitment-privacy-notice" target="_blank">Recruitment Privacy Notice</a>.</em></p></div>