The role
From xAI's own posting.
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.
ABOUT THE ROLE:
We are seeking a hands-on Infrastructure Security Engineer to build and secure SpaceXSI's infrastructure from the bare-metal layer up through the platform and application stack. In this role, you will design, implement, and harden physical and private-cloud foundations—servers, networks, identity, and orchestration—and carry that security posture into containers, automation, and hybrid connectivity with public cloud.
This role focuses on securing critical infrastructure spanning data centers, colo, and hybrid environments, with work that may span platforms such as SpaceXSI, X Social, X Money, and related systems. You’ll operate with an automation-first mindset: building secure foundations at the metal and OS layer, hardening platforms at scale, and partnering closely with engineering so security is embedded in how we build and run systems—not bolted on after the fact.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Bare metal, data center & network security
Design and implement secure bare-metal and private-cloud architectures (servers, storage, out-of-band management, BIOS/UEFI/BMC firmware posture)
Harden physical and virtual fleets: OS baselines (Linux/Windows), CIS benchmarks, patch and vulnerability management, and secure boot / measured boot where applicable
Hands-on firmware, BMC/iDRAC/iLO, PXE/Kickstart provisioning, and hardware lifecycle security
Build and secure network foundations: segmentation, load balancers, DNS, PKI, NAC, and IDS/IPS on real hardware
Own hybrid connectivity between on-premises and cloud (site-to-site VPN, Direct Connect / Interconnect / ExpressRoute, SD-WAN, zero-trust access)
Manage identities and privileged access across Active Directory / LDAP / Kerberos and cloud IAM (federation, SAML/OIDC, PAM)
Assist with security assessments and audits of physical, on-premises, and hybrid infrastructure
Monitor and remediate infrastructure to comply with regulations and best practices (e.g., PCI, NIST CSF, GDPR, HIPAA)
Platform, containers & developer enablement
Design and implement secure container and Kubernetes standards on bare metal and private cloud (not only managed EKS/GKE/AKS), including RBAC, network policy, and secrets
Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code and configuration management—especially Puppet—with embedded security controls for physical and virtual fleets
Collaborate with development teams so security best practices are integrated into CI/CD pipelines
Secure and enhance CI/CD pipelines; integrate and maintain code and image scanning platforms
Detection, operations & tooling
Monitor and respond to security events and incidents spanning bare metal, network devices, hosts, and hybrid cloud
Maintain SIEM data pipelines that ingest on-premises network, host, and cloud telemetry for reliable alerting
Build, deploy, and maintain security operations infrastructure using Python, Terraform, and Puppet
Develop dashboards and alerts from security metrics across physical and platform layers
Develop and maintain infrastructure security policies, standards, and procedures from metal through platform
Own security projects end to end: identify issues and implement solutions
Stay current with emerging threats and mitigations for bare-metal, firmware, network, and hybrid-cloud infrastructure
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related field
3–5 years of experience in infrastructure security, platform security, or related hands-on roles
Proven experience securing bare-metal, data-center, or private-cloud environments (not cloud-only resumes)
Hands-on experience with firmware, BMC/iDRAC/iLO, PXE/Kickstart provisioning, and hardware lifecycle security
Strong proficiency with Puppet for configuration management and fleet hardening in production
Strong understanding of network security concepts and protocols, including hands-on work with firewalls, segmentation, and hybrid connectivity
Experience with hybrid identity (AD/LDAP or similar) integrated or federated with cloud IAM
Experience with Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform) applied to physical or VM fleets
Familiarity with containerization and Kubernetes security implications, including on-premises or bare-metal clusters
Experience with languages (e.g., Python, Bash and Golang) for automation and tool development
Familiarity with regulatory compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, NIST CSF)
Experience in banking, money transmission, P2P payments, or similarly regulated financial platforms
Proactive mindset with strong ownership, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills
Located in the SF Bay Area, Austin, New York, Palo Alto, or Seattle, or willing to relocate to a US office
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
Deep expertise operating and securing physical server fleets, colo, or private cloud (VMware, OpenStack, Proxmox, Nutanix, or similar)
Relevant security certifications (e.g., CCSP, CSSK, OSCP, network or cloud security specialty)
Strong proficiency with Python and Terraform on production fleets
Deep expertise in Kubernetes and container security on bare metal or private cloud
Experience with multi-cloud and cloud-to-on-prem security
Knowledge of CI/CD best practices and tools; hands-on GitHub Actions or equivalent
Experience with observability and security operations tooling (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch, Karma; SIEM platforms such as Wazuh)
Experience building custom security tools or integrations
Interest in leveraging AI for infrastructure security monitoring and automation
Contributions to open-source infrastructure or security projects
Experience securing AI/ML and GPU workloads on bare metal or hybrid infrastructure
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
$100,000 - $258,000 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 .