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Sr. Software Engineer, Network (C++)

X.ai

Palo Alto, CAJob$200–375K/yrPosted todayStill listed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$200–375K/yr
Location
Palo Alto, CA
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

SpaceXSI is building the Colossus supercomputer and its high-performance datacenter network to support Grok and other AI models. The Software Engineer on the Colossus Networking team develops core networking software to improve fabric performance and reliability. Engineers own the software lifecycle, from design and implementation through deployment, monitoring, and iteration, working on distributed systems, high-performance networking, and real-time control.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

C++ (Programming Language)InternetworkingDistributed ComputingHigh Performance ComputingReal Time SystemsC or C++ DevelopmentHigh-Performance C/C++Software Development at ScaleNetworking ProtocolsDistributed SystemsDatacenter FabricsLow-Latency NetworkingResource-Constrained SystemsCreative Problem-SolvingAnalytical SkillsEngineering FundamentalsWritten CommunicationVerbal CommunicationAdaptabilityDistributed Systems Security

Qualifications

Bachelor's in Technical Discipline5+ Years Software Development Experience

Benefits

Medical Insurance
Vision Insurance
Dental Insurance
401(k) Match

Full 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, NETWORK (C++) At SpaceXSI, we design, build, and operate Colossus from the ground up. This includes the massive GPU clusters, high-speed interconnect fabric, and the software that makes it all work at unprecedented scale. Colossus powers Grok and our frontier AI models with a custom, high-performance datacenter network that delivers ultra-low latency and massive bandwidth across hundreds of thousands of GPUs. As a Software Engineer on the Colossus Networking team, you will develop the core networking software that maximizes the performance and reliability of our datacenter fabric. Your work will directly impact training efficiency, model convergence, and the speed at which we can push the frontier of AI. Our engineers own the full lifecycle of their software — from design and implementation to deployment, monitoring, and iteration based on real-world performance at scale. You will solve hard problems in distributed systems, high-performance networking, and real-time control of one of the largest AI supercomputers on Earth. RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Develop routing and traffic-engineering algorithms for the Colossus high-performance datacenter network
  • Develop highly reliable, real-time software designed to run on the switches that form the backbone of our low-latency, high-bandwidth AI training fabric
  • Participate in and lead architecture, design, and code reviews
  • Develop prototypes and run experiments to validate key design decisions at both small and full-cluster scale
  • Build tools for software development, deployment, data analysis, visualization, and testing across virtualized environments, hardware-in-the-loop setups, and live production clusters
  • Deploy reliable software updates through continuous integration and release systems with rigorous testing and monitoring

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, or technical discipline
  • 5+ years of professional software development experience in lieu of a degree
  • Development experience in C or C++

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • Strong professional experience writing high-performance C/C++ in production environments
  • Experience developing, debugging, and deploying software that runs at scale in real-world systems
  • Deep knowledge of networking protocols (UDP, TCP/IP, RDMA, etc.), distributed systems, and large-scale datacenter fabrics
  • Background in real-time systems, high-performance computing, low-latency networking, or resource-constrained environments
  • Creative problem-solving ability with exceptional analytical skills and strong engineering fundamentals
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with evolving requirements
  • Experience with security considerations in large-scale distributed systems

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: $200,000 - $375,000 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.

How this job compares

Set against the 41,980 open Software Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 5, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$200–375K/yr
  • California median$165–246K/yr7,809 salary ranges
  • US median$135–218K/yr33,365 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $288K, is 40% above the California median midpoint ($205K) — in the top quarter of Software Engineer salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 9,727 open Software Engineer jobs in California and 41,980 across the US. 8% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in California
Experience
This posting asks for at least 5 years of experience; Software Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years at the median (34,185 postings).
Education
13,985 of the 41,980 open Software Engineer jobs (33%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 5, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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