Senior Director, Graphics Systems Software

NVIDIA is hiring a Senior Director, Graphics Systems Software in Santa Clara, United States. It pays $384k-$575k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on NVIDIA.

Level's read on this job

Level rates this role Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
The posting mentions Vulkan, Opengl and CUDA among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as an executive role.
NVIDIA has 2,700+ other open roles on Level.
Posted in the last few days.

AI in this role

Lead a graphics systems software engineering organization driving drivers, APIs, compilers, and agentic development workflows.

vulkanopenglcudaslang

graphics-systems-softwareengineering-leadershipcompilersgpu-programming

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. Today, compute and AI are changing how images are created, while agentic development is changing how complex, performance-critical software is built. Our team sits at the intersection of these shifts: advancing production graphics across compute graphics, automotive, robotics, and consumer platforms while pioneering new ways to build the systems behind them.

We are seeking a deeply technical Senior Director of System Software Engineering to lead a world class software organization, bringing sound judgment and a steady hand as our technology and engineering practices evolve. You will lead experienced managers and engineers responsible for graphics drivers and APIs, platform integration, and the compilers and shading languages that support them, including Slang. Your mandate is to advance what graphics can do while guiding teams through change, sustaining production commitments, and establishing an agentic engineering model that delivers measurable improvements in development speed, performance, reliability, and production quality.

What You’ll Be Doing:

Set technical strategy, roadmaps, and priorities, balancing emerging graphics capabilities with existing product commitments.
Guide hardware/software co-design and the evolution of graphics APIs, compilers, and shading languages to bring new capabilities to developers.
Establish an AI friendly development model for implementation, debugging, and validation, using production results to refine and expand it across teams.
Drive execution and production delivery of Vulkan, OpenGL, and CUDA-based graphics software, from GPU and SoC enablement through integration, optimization, validation, and release, including automotive graphics safety commitments.
Lead engineering partnerships across NVIDIA and externally as well, aligning requirements, component ownership, integration plans, and release commitments.
Attract, develop, and retain world-class engineering leaders while encouraging technical excellence, accountability, inclusion, and innovation.

What We Need to See:

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Graphics, or equivalent experience.
15+ overall years of relevant management experience in system software graphics, GPU, or related platform engineering, including 8+ years leading engineering teams with senior individual contributors and managers.
Deep expertise in graphics system software, with substantial experience in drivers, APIs, compilers, or shading languages.
Strong understanding of GPU architecture, graphics and compute pipelines, operating systems, and hardware/software interfaces, supported by a C/C++ systems programming background.
Outstanding record of leading software organizations through complex product cycles and shipping highly performant production-quality systems.
Demonstrated proficiency in agentic software development, with measurable results and a track record of building team expertise.
Strong technical judgment and communication skills, with proven success building engineering partnerships and resolving technical disagreements.

Ways to Stand Out from the crowd:

Background with console platforms, pre-silicon validation, or new hardware bring-up.
Experience advancing compute-based graphics or neural rendering from early development into production.
Experience leading an open source project, including technical direction, releases, and collaboration with external contributors.
Functional safety experience in automotive or other safety-critical software, including ISO 26262, ASIL requirements, traceability, verification evidence, or safety-qualified releases.

With competitive salaries and a generous benefits package (www.nvidiabenefits.com ), we are widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and hardworking people in the world working for us and, due to outstanding growth, our best-in-class engineering teams are rapidly growing. If you're a creative and autonomous engineer with a real passion for technology, we want to hear from you!

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and other objective job-related factors. The expected base salary range for this position is 384,000 USD – 575,000 USD.

You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until November 6, 2026.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.

NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.

How we rate this

Senior Director, Graphics Systems Software at NVIDIA rates 20 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Senior Director, Graphics Systems Software is an open job at NVIDIA.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The listed salary is $384k-$575k a year.
The role is based in US, CA, Santa Clara.
The job was posted on November 2, 2026.
Seniority: executive.
Applications are handled by NVIDIA. Apply on NVIDIA

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Graphics Systems SoftwareEngineering LeadershipCompilersGPU ProgrammingVulkanOpenglCUDASlang

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where graphics systems software was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where engineering leadership was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where compilers was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where gpu programming was part of your work. What did you do?
Walk me through how you've used Vulkan in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Graphics Systems Software, Engineering Leadership, Compilers, GPU Programming, and Vulkan. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.

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