Associate Project Engineer

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

About The Role

You’ll support the design, construction, and delivery of cutting-edge data centers. Working onsite with construction teams, vendors, and internal stakeholders, you’ll solve complex coordination challenges to ensure projects hit timelines and quality targets. Expect to dive into technical details, streamline workflows, and keep everything running smoothly.

What You’ll Do

- Coordinate communication between contractors, vendors, and xAI teams—think region-wide updates on safety, access, or procedural shifts, plus real-time troubleshooting of multi-site dependencies in a hyperscaler ecosystem.

- Track and manage design changes, RFIs, change orders, and milestones, building dashboards for leadership visibility—integrating live data feeds from BIM tools, IoT sensors, and project management platforms for predictive analytics.

- Review and optimize MOPs (Methods of Procedure) for risk and precision, ensuring safe execution of high-voltage systems, cooling infrastructure, and AI hardware deployments at scale.

- Onboard vendors and manage hyperscale logistics—handling badging, orientation, and compliance with strict SLAs, while aligning third-party schedules with rapid deployment cycles.

- Maintain and enhance project data ecosystems—milestones, docs, and vendor inputs—within cloud-based systems, ensuring real-time access and version control across global teams.

- Oversee delivery and integration of critical materials—think GPU clusters, liquid cooling rigs, and fiber optic backbone—coordinating just-in-time logistics to minimize downtime in 24/7 build schedules.

- Run checklists and audits for completion, safety, and quality, enforcing standards for seismic resilience, power redundancy (e.g., N 1, 2N), and thermal efficiency tailored to AI workloads.

- Be the daily bridge between construction crews and xAI’s goals, translating technical requirements—like rack density or PUE targets—into actionable onsite plans while resolving design and construction conflicts in the field in real-time.

- Drive continuous improvement—identify bottlenecks in workflows, propose automation for repetitive tasks (e.g., RFI tracking via scripts), and adapt processes to hyperscale’s iterative design-build cadence.

- Liaise with engineering teams on cutting-edge infrastructure—support commissioning of bespoke systems like advanced HVAC, renewable energy tie-ins, or modular data hall designs, ensuring seamless handoff to operations.

- Own the full project lifecycle—from scoping and budgeting to on-time, under-budget delivery—performing project control tasks like scheduling, cost tracking, and providing preliminary cost estimates based on scope.

- Facilitate approvals and stakeholder alignment—navigate city, county, and governmental permitting processes, gather proposals from architects and engineers, and coordinate with end users and facilities teams for operational handoff.

- Develop enterprise-wide tools and strategies—support space allocation, real estate planning, and adjudication processes across xAI’s data center portfolio, taking on ad-hoc projects as business needs evolve.

Basic Qualifications

- A four-year degree in a technical field such as engineering, construction management, or a trade school OR 4 years of related construction experience in lieu of a degree.
- 2 years of experience working in the construction industry or an engineering organization.
- Experience updating and managing construction data including milestone dates, requests for information (RFI), design changes, and change orders.

xAI is an equal opportunity employer.

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