Network Engineer - Backbone jobs in United States
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xAI · 2 weeks ago

Network Engineer - Backbone

positionPalo Alto, CA
timeFull-time
remoteOnsite
senioritySenior Level
money$180K/yr - $440K/yr
date5+ years exp

xAI is focused on creating AI systems that can understand the universe and support humanity's knowledge pursuits. The role involves leading the Core Network Engineering Team and developing the backbone infrastructure while collaborating with various teams to enhance performance and reliability.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Foundational AIGenerative AIInformation TechnologyMachine Learning
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Growth Opportunities
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H1B Sponsor Likelynote

Responsibilities

Design, develop, deploy, and operate global backbone infrastructure to ensure high performance and reliability
Partner with internal teams to gather requirements and leverage xAI systems for insights to meet current and future product needs
Utilize Python and Ansible to automate customer impact mitigations and eliminate repetitive engineering tasks
Manage and troubleshoot cloud VPCs and connected network hardware to maintain seamless operations
Apply deep traffic engineering skills to optimize backbone network performance
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to enhance infrastructure efficiency and support xAI’s AI platforms

Qualification

Backbone network hardwareBGPIS-IS routingPython scriptingCloud VPC managementTraffic engineeringJuniper hardwareCisco hardwareArista hardwareAWS cloudGCP cloudOCI cloudProblem-solving skillsAdaptability

Required

5+ years of experience working on backbone network hardware and protocols (e.g., MPLS, RSVP-TE) in large or hyperscale environments
5+ years of routing experience with BGP and IS-IS in backbone, peering, and transit areas, with expertise in traffic engineering
3+ years of experience using Python scripting to automate deployments and break/fix tasks
3+ years of experience managing and troubleshooting cloud VPCs and connected network hardware

Preferred

Experience with Juniper, Cisco, and Arista hardware
Familiarity with AWS, GCP, and OCI cloud environments
Expertise in capacity planning for large networks with minimal customer input
Proven success in on-call rotations and incident response in high-stakes environments
Strong problem-solving skills and adaptability in a fast-paced, ambiguous setting

Benefits

Equity
Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage
Access to a 401(k) retirement plan
Short & long-term disability insurance
Life insurance
Various other discounts and perks

Company

xAI

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XAI is an artificial intelligence startup that develops AI solutions and tools to enhance reasoning and search capabilities.
dateFounded in 2023
location
Palo Alto, California, USA
people-size11-50 employees
web-link
https://x.ai

H1B Sponsorship

xAI has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (1)

Funding

Current Stage
Late Stage
Total Funding
$42.73B
Key Investors
Neptune Digital AssetsSpaceXMorgan Stanley
2026-01-06Series E· $20B
2025-12-11Secondary Market· $0.3M
2025-07-13Corporate Round· $5.32B

Leadership Team

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Toby Pohlen
Founding Member
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Recent News

Press Telegram
Malaysia and Indonesia become the first countries to block Musk’s Grok over sexualized AI images
2026-01-13
Indian Express
Elon Musk’s Grok AI Blocked in Malaysia and Indonesia over sexualised AI images
2026-01-13
Irish Times
Musk’s xAI reports $1.46bn quarterly loss
2026-01-13
Company data provided by crunchbase