Senior System Software Engineer - Performance

NVIDIA is hiring a Senior System Software Engineer - Performance 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

Little AI ●○○○ is how Level rates this software engineer role: aI is not part of the work.
The listed pay starts 10% above the typical software engineer posting on Level.
Level classifies it as a senior role.
Level lists 2,700+ other open roles at NVIDIA.

AI in this role

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.

NVIDIA is searching for a highly motivated, technical engineer to join the Tegra system-on-chip (SoC) software organization. You will work on key aspects of our ARM SW ecosystem and system software architecture. With a targeted charter to enable best-in-class datacenter-scale performance and efficiency for our next generation of datacenter products, including CPUs and CPU+GPU Superchips.

What you will be doing:

Design, develop, test, and optimize software for our next-generation SoCs. In both pre-silicon and post-silicon phases of execution.
Review architectural performance bottlenecks for various system wide work loads. Identify HW/SW policies to drive performance and performance/watt leadership.
Using strong communication skills, build and drive architecture, analysis documents and communications to internal and/or external audiences about our technology.
Competitive analysis comparing uArchitecture & workload performance metrics on NVIDIA's ARM SoCs against emerging processors from other silicon vendors.
Influence and drive full-stack adoption of performance optimizations and standard methodologies across NVIDIA SW products & OSS SDKs

What we need to see:

BS or MS degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related degree (or equivalent experience).
6+ years of relevant computer architecture or SW development experience.
Proven leadership skills and strong ownership on past projects.
Hands on technical experience and demonstrated excellence in an environment with complex software and hardware designs.
Strong understanding of multicore hardware, operating systems design, concurrency, virtual memory, caching, interrupts, device drivers and real-time programming.
Strong stills in performance analysis, data analysis and performance optimization.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

Deep expertise in ARM architecture and SW ecosystem.
Proficient in analyzing, debugging and tuning performance of complex system software stacks.
Experience with CPU server system workloads and performance analysis.
Familiarity with CUDA programming and/or GPUs.
Experience with HPC or large-scale computing environments.

Widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers, NVIDIA offers highly competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. As you plan your future, see what we can offer to you and your family www.nvidiabenefits.com/

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 - Performance 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.