Senior Software Performance Engineer - Autonomous Vehicles

NVIDIA is hiring a Senior Software Performance Engineer - Autonomous Vehicles in Santa Clara, United States. It pays $224k-$357k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on NVIDIA.

Level's read on this job

Builds AI ●●●● is how Level rates this role: the job is building AI systems.
Tools and skills the posting cites include computer vision.
Level classifies it as a senior role.
Level lists 2,700+ other open roles at NVIDIA.

AI in this role

computer-vision

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. It’s a unique legacy of innovation that’s fueled by great technology—and amazing people. Today, we’re tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what’s never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world’s best talent. As an NVIDIAN, you’ll be immersed in a diverse, supportive environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work. Come join the team and see how you can make a lasting impact on the world.

We are now looking for a Senior Software Performance Engineer for Autonomous Vehicles! Our team builds NVIDIA’s end-to-end autonomous driving applications. We are seeking senior software engineers who are passionate about performance with an interest in optimizing self-driving solutions that run on NVIDIA’s multi-computer and heterogenous HW architectures.

What you’ll be doing:

Develop, maintain and optimize latency and throughput of NVIDIA’s L2/L3/L4 autonomous driving solutions.
Devise acceleration strategies and patterns to improve software architecture and its efficiency on our computers with multiple heterogeneous hardware engines while meeting or exceeding product goals.
Develop highly efficient product code in C++, making use of algorithmic parallelism offered by GPGPU programming (CUDA)/ARM NEON while following quality and safety standards such as defined by MISRA.
Collaborate with HW, product, OS, and safety teams to design next-gen products.

What we need to see:

MS or PhD degree in Computer Science, Computer Architecture, Electrical Engineering or related field (or equivalent experience).
12+ years of relevant professional experience.
Excellent C and C++ programming skills.
Solid understanding of programming and debugging techniques, especially for parallel architectures.
Good understanding of system software/operating systems and computer architecture.
Experience with performance analysis, optimizations and benchmarking.
Outstanding communication and collaboration skills as this role might require significant interfacing with other teams within NVIDIA.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

Understanding of embedded architectures and real-time operating systems & scheduling.
Strong mathematical fundamentals, including linear algebra and numerical methods.
Experience implementing algorithms in robotics, computer vision, and/or machine learning.
Software development experience with CUDA/GPGPU or any data parallel architectures.
Deep learning architecture/performance work on any HW accelerator, especially if on GPUs.

#AutonomousVehicles

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:
224,000 USD – 356,500 USD for Level 5; and 272,000 USD – 431,250 USD for Level 6.

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 Performance Engineer - Autonomous Vehicles at NVIDIA rates 83 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

●●●● 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 Software Performance Engineer - Autonomous Vehicles is an open job at NVIDIA.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $224k-$357k a year.
The role is based in US, CA, Santa Clara.
The job was posted on August 29, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
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

Computer vision

Questions you could be asked

Walk me through a computer vision problem you solved, from raw data to a deployed model.
How would you decide a model or AI system is ready to ship?
Tell me about a time a model underperformed in production. How did you find out, and what did you change?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Computer vision. 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.
Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.

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