Rust/C++ Backend Engineer - grok.com & API

xAI’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 engineers are expected to have strong communication skills. They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates.

About the team

You will work on the team that is responsible for the backend services that power grok.com and our API. Our team is currently based primarily in London with a small but growing number of engineers located in Palo Alto. We focus on writing highly scalable and reliable services that can efficiently process tens of thousands of queries per second. The entire backend stack is written in Rust.

About the role

An ideal candidate meets at least the following requirements:

• Expert knowledge of either Rust or C++,
• Experience in designing, implementing, and maintaining reliable and horizontally scalable distributed systems,
• Knowledge of service observability and reliability best practices,
• Experience in operating commonly used databases such as PostgreSQL, Clickhouse, and CockroachDB.

Additionally, any of the below points will help a candidate stand out:

• Expert knowledge of Python,
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and containerised applications,
• Expert knowledge of TypeScript,
• Expert knowledge of gRPC (unary, response streaming, bi-directional streaming, REST mapping).

Locations

We hire engineers in London and in Palo Alto. We usually work from the office 5 days a week but allow for work-from-home days when required. Candidates joining the London team must be willing to attend late meetings at least once a week to coordinate with the rest of our team.

Interview process

After submitting your application, the team reviews your CV and statement of exceptional work. If your application passes this stage, you will be invited to a 15 minute interview (“phone interview”) during which a member of our team will ask some basic technical questions. If you clear the initial phone interview, you will enter the main process, which consists of two technical interviews:

1. Coding interview in Rust or C++.
2. Distributed systems design interview.

All interviews will be conducted via Google Meet.

$180,000 - $440,000 USD

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 & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, and various other discounts and perks.

xAI is an equal opportunity employer.

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