Technical Lead, Payments

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 role

We’re looking for an exceptional Technical Lead for a new payments platform being built at X which serves 600 million monthly users. This is a high-priority role responsible for protecting users and the platform from fraud, abuse, and risk.

As the technical leader, you’ll be instrumental in shaping the architecture and execution of this new app from the ground up. You’ll apply your expertise in distributed systems, secure transactions, and high-availability architectures to build a robust, scalable payments infrastructure. This is a rare opportunity to build a foundational product at the intersection of fintech and social platforms—enabling users to move money, access payments services tools, and engage in new digital experiences, all on the X platform.

What You'll Do

• Design and implement core components of a high-scale, low-latency payments platform
• Lead technical decisions across architecture, scalability, security, and reliability
• Work across engineering, product, compliance, and infrastructure teams to deliver end-to-end functionality
• Define and uphold high engineering standards, including testing, monitoring, and continuous deployment practices
• Proactively identify and mitigate technical risks in a complex, regulated domain

Who You Are

• Experienced: 8 years in backend or systems engineering, ideally with experience in fintech or high-scale platforms
• Expert in distributed systems: You’ve built, deployed, and maintained systems with high concurrency, fault tolerance, and uptime
• Security- and compliance-minded: You understand the unique challenges of handling sensitive personal financial data, such as payments credentials
• Builder mentality: You’re excited by zero-to-one problems and proven ability to thrive in fast-paced environments. You are willing to work hard.
• Strong communicator: You can clearly articulate complex technical ideas and influence technical direction. You look for simple solutions and avoid over-engineering systems.

Bonus

• Experience working on payments, digital wallets, identity, or fraud detection systems
• Familiarity with regulatory or compliance frameworks (e.g., PCI-DSS, AML/KYC)
• Prior work in a startup or greenfield product environment.

Tech Stack (Optional)

• Golang
• Postgres
• Kafka
• Memcached

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 30 minute phone interview, during which a member of our team will ask technical questions. If you clear the phone interview, you will proceed to next steps:

1. Coding assessment in a language of your choice.
2. Systems design: Translate high-level requirements into a scalable, fault-tolerant service.
3. Project deep-dive: Present your past exceptional work to a small audience.
4. Meet and greet with the wider team.

Our goal is to finish the main process within one week.

Location

The role is based in Palo Alto. Candidates are expected to be located near the Bay Area or open to relocation.

Benefits

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.

Annual Salary Range

$220,000 - $440,000 USD

xAI is an equal opportunity employer.

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