Performance Architect

Acceler8 Talent; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Opportunity to shape next-generation AI inference infrastructure

High-impact technical ownership

Work in a fast-moving engineering environment

Job summary

Acceler8 Talent is seeking a Performance Modeling / Architecture Simulation Engineer in San Francisco. The role involves designing and maintaining processor simulators and contributing to architectural decisions.

The ideal candidate will have over 5 years of experience in software engineering, particularly in systems and computer architecture, along with strong skills in C/C++ and Python. This position offers the opportunity to shape AI inference infrastructures in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, ideally within systems or computer architecture.
• Strong C/C++ and Python development skills.
• Experience with processor simulators or architectural modeling.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain processor simulators.
• Model microarchitectural components such as pipelines and memory hierarchies.
• Analyze simulation results to drive architecture trade-offs.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Software engineering

Architectural modeling

Performance analysis

Job description

Performance Modeling / Architecture Simulation Engineer

Acceler8 Talent is partnering with a stealth-mode startup building next-generation AI inference systems optimized for data center-scale deployment. Their architecture combines differentiated silicon and system-level innovation to maximize efficiency for large-scale inference serving. We're seeking highly skilled engineers to help build hardware platforms and develop software infrastructure capable of serving leading-edge AI models with exceptional efficiency.

Role Overview

Lead or contribute to a small engineering team developing performance and/or functional models that guide architectural decisions and accelerate hardware/software co-design in a fast-moving startup environment.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain processor simulators, including performance and functional models
• Model microarchitectural components such as pipelines, memory hierarchies, interconnects, and accelerators
• Generate and curate traces suitable for targeted performance analysis and architectural studies
• Analyze simulation results to drive architecture trade-offs and optimization decisions
• Collaborate closely with architecture, hardware, and compiler teams
• Own critical simulation infrastructure from initial concept through production deployment

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, ideally within systems, computer architecture, or EDA-related domains
• Strong C/C++ and Python development skills working with large, complex codebases
• Experience with processor simulators, architectural modeling, or performance analysis, particularly involving from-scratch simulator development
• Strong understanding of computer architecture and microarchitecture
• Ability to work independently and make technical decisions in an early-stage startup environment

Preferred / Bonus Experience

• Experience with AI/ML accelerators, GPUs, or heterogeneous compute systems
• Familiarity with simulators such as gem5, gem5-SALAM, or proprietary architectural modeling environments
• Background in hardware/software co-design or compiler technologies

What We Offer

• Opportunity to shape next-generation AI inference infrastructure from the ground up
• High-impact technical ownership in a fast-moving engineering environment
• Work at the intersection of AI systems, silicon architecture, and large-scale compute infrastructure