Senior Software Engineer, Networking

NVIDIA is hiring a Senior Software Engineer, Networking in Santa Clara, United States. It pays $184k-$288k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on NVIDIA.

Level's read on this job

Level rates this software engineer role Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
Pay on this posting starts 10% higher than the typical software engineer posting on Level.
Level classes it as a senior role.
NVIDIA has 2,600+ other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

NVIDIA is a leader in the field of computer graphics, PC gaming, accelerated computing and AI. Within NVIDIA, the Networking Business Unit is building chips, systems and software that are powering the most advanced data center and hyper-converged networks of today and tomorrow. We are working on products and solutions on various Ethernet switching platforms as well as SmartNICs like the NVIDIA BlueField® data processing unit (DPU) which ignites outstanding innovation for modern data centers by offloading, accelerating, and isolating a broad range of services.

We are looking for a highly motivated senior software engineer with experience in data forwarding technologies, network functions virtualization (NFV) and related areas to join the team and work on various data forwarding and offload solutions. You will develop software for several data forwarding and NFV capabilities which may be applicable to the Ethernet switching platforms as well as to SmartNIC offload. You will use the latest software development tools and techniques and will gain outstanding knowledge of modern data center architectures and acceleration of workloads. You will implement and maintain core of Cumulus Linux: code that translates control plane constructs into the hardware data plane and end-to-end solutions.

What you’ll be doing:

Designing, developing, testing and maintaining new functionality and improvements to existing functionality related to forwarding and offload of routing, ACLs, QOS, CLAG, NAT, policy-based routing, VxLAN-EVPN and so on.
Working on data forwarding on Ethernet switching platforms as well as on SmartNICs, based on the roadmap
Collaborating with team members, architects, QA and Support teams on feature definition, development, release and defect fixing
For senior levels, leading and guiding multi-functional teams on large feature development activities.

What we need to see:

BS or MS degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
10+ years of software development experience in data forwarding on Ethernet switching silicon and/or offload on SmartNICs.
Strong and validated experience in C programming
Strong technical abilities, problem solving, design, coding and debugging skills
Previous experience leading feature development, take full ownership of tasks from A-Z and deliver independently with minimum supervision
Ability to swiftly understand new requirements and technologies and quickly prototype and implement solutions

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

Experience with Merchant Silicon for Switching/Routing.
Contributions to SONiC, SwitchDev or Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) projects.
Experience accelerating packet processing on Ethernet switching platforms. Experience in virtualized networking and SRIOV, container networking concepts, networking functionality like NAT, Firewall and Load Balancer etc.
Knowledge of Linux kernel networking as well as experience with control plane operation in areas like EVPN, Segment Routing etc.
Participation in the open-source community and python programming skills

With competitive salaries and a generous benefits package, 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 unprecedented growth, our exclusive 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 ranges for this position are:
184,000 USD – 287,500 USD for Level 4; and 224,000 USD – 356,500 USD for Level 5.

You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until November 3, 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 Software Engineer, Networking at NVIDIA rates 30 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.