Senior System Software Engineer - AV Platform

NVIDIA is hiring a Senior System Software Engineer - AV Platform 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

Builds AI ●●●● is how Level rates this software engineer role: the job is building AI systems.
Pay on this posting starts 10% higher than the typical software engineer posting on Level.
The posting mentions computer vision among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a senior role.
NVIDIA has 2,700+ other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

computer-vision

The Autonomous Vehicles Platform team is looking for a hands-on System Software Engineer. As part of our team, you will work on our Autonomous Driving Platform software, implementing performant and scalable solutions for data collection and autonomous vehicle fleets. Our team is responsible for developing platform and middleware features for self-driving cars. This includes software that interacts with various sensors including Cameras, LIDAR, RADAR, GPS, IMU, Vehicle CAN etc.

We are seeking candidates with interests in inventing, developing, and maintaining application framework and tools on multi-computer and heterogeneous architectures. The role encompasses working with various teams across the stack, from platform and embedded software to cloud infrastructure, underpinned by safety and performance. It extends an opportunity to contribute to the technology that will drive the cars of the future!

What you'll be doing:

Integrating sensors into our AV driving software stack.
Develop and improve startup user experience of our AV stack.
Work on areas such as sensor abstraction layers, data processing & performance optimization, data serialization, and service frameworks.
Collaborate with hardware, platform software, product, safety, performance, algorithms and cloud teams.

What we need to see:

BS or MS degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
8+ years of professional experience working on system software.
Excellent programming skills in C++, C and Python.
Familiarity with source control tools.
Solid understanding of Linux, QNX, ROS, and/or real-time operating systems.
Experience in developing user-space system software, with a willingness to delve into kernel-space and/or low-level hardware when needed.
Knowledge about embedded system programming, threading, mutex, synchronization, communication, and parallel computing to build highly-scalable and efficient applications.
Familiarity with hardware architecture for CPU/GPU and memory alongside performance.
Prior experience working in the following areas: Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics, Self-Driving-Cars, GPU technology, Embedded Systems, Computer Vision.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

Deep understanding of system architecture, CPU/GPU/Memory/Storage, everything related to performance optimization.
Experience in Autonomous Vehicle or Robotic System Building.
Hands-on experience in embedded development, operating systems and real-time software.

#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:
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 System Software Engineer - AV Platform 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 System Software Engineer - AV Platform is an open job at NVIDIA.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $184k-$288k 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

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

LLM Machine learning AWS AI agents Kubernetes Java

Pay

This job starts at: $184k
Typical software engineer job: $168k

This posting starts 10% above the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs

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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