Senior ML Kernel Performance Engineer

Amazon Web Services (AWS); Toronto; On-site; CAD 150,700 - 251,700; Full time

Job summary

Amazon Development Centre Canada ULC in Toronto is seeking a highly skilled software engineer to design and optimize ML compute kernels for Neuron, Amazon's ML accelerators. You will work at the HW/SW boundary to push kernel performance, collaborating with ML frameworks and customer teams.

The role emphasizes performance analysis, compiler optimizations, and mentoring junior engineers in a fast‑moving, startup‑like environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software development experience
• Experience mentoring, tech lead, or team leadership
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent

Responsibilities

• Design and implement high‑performance compute kernels for ML operations
• Analyze and optimize kernel performance across Neuron hardware generations
• Conduct detailed performance profiling to identify bottlenecks
• Implement compiler optimizations such as fusion, tiling, and scheduling
• Collaborate with customers to enable and optimize ML models on AWS accelerators

Skills

5+ years software dev

5+ years programming

5+ years design/architecture

Mentor / tech lead

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or equivalent

Tools

CUDA

OpenCL

LLVM/MLIR

GPU ISA familiarity

Job description

Description

The Annapurna Labs team at Amazon builds Neuron, the software development kit used to accelerate deep learning and GenAI workloads on Amazon’s custom machine learning accelerators, Inferentia and Trainium.

The Acceleration Kernel Library team is at the forefront of maximizing performance for Amazon's custom ML accelerators. Working at the hardware-software boundary, our engineers craft high-performance kernels for ML functions, ensuring every FLOP counts in delivering optimal performance for our customers' demanding workloads. We combine deep hardware knowledge with ML expertise to push the boundaries of what's possible in AI acceleration.

The Amazon Neuron SDK, developed by the Annapurna Labs team at Amazon, is the backbone for accelerating deep learning and GenAI workloads on Amazon's Inferentia and Trainium ML accelerators. This comprehensive toolkit includes an ML compiler, runtime, and application framework that seamlessly integrates with popular ML frameworks like PyTorch, enabling unparalleled ML inference and training performance.

As part of the broader Neuron Compiler organization, our team works across multiple technology layers - from frameworks and compilers to runtime and collectives. We not only optimize current performance but also contribute to future architecture designs, working closely with customers to enable their models and ensure optimal performance. This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of machine learning, high-performance computing, and distributed architectures, where you'll help shape the future of AI acceleration technology.

This is an opportunity to work on cutting‑edge products at the intersection of machine-learning, high-performance computing, and distributed architectures. You will architect and implement business‑critical features, publish cutting‑edge research, and mentor a brilliant team of experienced engineers. We operate in spaces that are very large, yet our teams remain small and agile. There is no blueprint. We're inventing. We're experimenting. It is a very unique learning culture. The team works closely with customers on their model enablement, providing direct support and optimization expertise to ensure their machine learning workloads achieve optimal performance on Amazon's ML accelerators.

Explore the product and our history!

https://awsdocs-neuron.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/neuron-guide/neuron-cc/index.html

https://aws.amazon.com/machine-learning/neuron/

https://github.com/aws/aws-neuron-sdk

https://www.amazon.science/how-silicon-innovation-became-the-secret-sauce-behind-awss-success

Role

• Design and implement high-performance compute kernels for ML operations, leveraging the Neuron architecture and programming models
• Analyze and optimize kernel-level performance across multiple generations of Neuron hardware
• Conduct detailed performance analysis using profiling tools to identify and resolve bottlenecks
• Implement compiler optimizations such as fusion, sharding, tiling, and scheduling
• Work directly with customers to enable and optimize their ML models on AWS accelerators
• Collaborate across teams to develop innovative kernel optimization techniques

A day in the life

As you design and code solutions to help our team drive efficiencies in software architecture, you’ll create metrics, implement automation and other improvements, and resolve the root cause of software defects. You’ll also build high‑impact solutions to deliver to our large customer base, participate in design discussions, code review, and communicate with internal and external stakeholders. Work cross‑functionally to help drive business decisions with your technical input. Work in a startup‑like development environment, where you’re always working on the most important stuff.

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years of non‑internship professional software development experience
• 5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
• 5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
• Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
• Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
• Expertise in accelerator architectures for ML or HPC such as GPUs, CPUs, FPGAs, or custom architectures
• Experience with GPU kernel optimization and GPGPU computing such as CUDA, NKI, Triton, OpenCL, SYCL, or ROCm
• Demonstrated experience with NVIDIA PTX and/or AMD GPU ISA
• Experience developing high performance libraries for HPC applications
• Proficiency in low‑level performance optimization for GPUs
• Experience with LLVM/MLIR backend development for GPUs
• Knowledge of ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow) and their GPU backends
• Experience with parallel programming and optimization techniques
• Understanding of GPU memory hierarchies and optimization strategies

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. As a total compensation company, Amazon's package may include other elements such as sign‑on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, basic life & AD&D insurance), Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), Deferred Profit Sharing Plan (DPSP), paid time off, and other resources to improve health and well‑being. We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those interviewed will be advised as to hiring status.

CAN, ON, Toronto - 150,700.00 - 251,700.00 CAD annually

Company

Amazon Development Centre Canada ULC

Job ID: A3059954