Sr. Software Engineer, Media
xAI · Palo Alto, CA; Seattle, WA
Posted November 6, 2026
AI Summary
xAI (part of SpaceXSI) is hiring a Senior Software Engineer to rebuild core video and media infrastructure for a platform used by around 600 million monthly users. The role covers large-scale video services like playback, live streaming, Spaces, and audio/video calls, with work in high-performance languages (Rust, C++, or Go) on media processing and distribution pipelines. It is interesting for its scale and its integration of AI infrastructure into a consumer video product.
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.
SR. SOFTWARE ENGINEER, MEDIA
We’re looking for exceptional media engineers who want to join us on a new project to deeply integrate SpaceXSI's advanced AI infrastructure into a platform used by around 600 million users every month. We’re bringing SpaceXSI's technology stack and using it to transform the video product experience - video playback, live streaming, Spaces, audio/video calls, and more. This is your chance to contribute in a major way while leveraging all of the powerful AI tools and talented colleagues at SpaceXSI.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Build the next generation of large-scale video services
- Contribute to and rebuild core media processing and distribution pipelines in high-performance languages (Rust, C++, or Go)
- Ensure end-to-end media quality and performance at scale across a rich suite of products and user platforms
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- 5+ years of experience in building media, video, or streaming systems
- Experience with high-performance C++ or Go
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- In-depth knowledge of WebRTC, LL-HLS, or video transcoding pipelines
- Experience building and running scalable and resilient distributed systems
- Experience with one or more of the following languages: Go, C++, Rust, Java, or Scala
- Experience with Kubernetes, FoundationDB, ValKey, Envoy, or S3
- Familiarity with formats such as H.264, H.265, AV1, MP4, CMAF, VMAF, RTP, RTMP, LL-HLS, HDR, and DRM
- Obsessed with media quality, performance, and product experience
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
$180,000 - $330,000 USD
Base salary is just one part of our total rewards package at SpaceXSI, 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.
SpaceXSI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our Recruitment Privacy Notice.
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