Senior Compiler Engineer – Rust GPU

Nvidia Corporation; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 152,000 - 241,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

NVIDIA in California is seeking a Senior Compiler Engineer to advance GPU systems programming, building Rust-to-GPU backends and intermediate representations to enable high-performance CUDA kernels.

You will design compiler pipelines, MLIR/IR frameworks, and PTX targets, and push safety models across GPU launch boundaries while enabling future hardware features. This role requires deep Rust expertise and proven production-scale compiler experience.

Qualifications

• Strong expertise in Rust and compiler internals (rustc, MIR, borrow-checker)
• Experience with compiler infrastructures, IRs (MLIR/LLVM) and code generation
• Knowledge of GPU architectures and CUDA programming
• Proven ability to lead complex compiler-engineering projects from research to production
• Excellent debugging, profiling, and benchmarking skills

Responsibilities

• Develop Rust-to-GPU compiler pipelines and backends
• Lower Rust AST/MIR into IRs including MLIR, PTX, LLVM with GPU optimizations
• Support AOT, JIT, and link-time optimization workflows for NVIDIA GPUs
• Define safe parallel abstractions across GPU launch boundaries
• Implement type-safe device-side Rust abstractions for GPU primitives
• Contribute to building reusable compiler building blocks for future workloads

Skills

Rust programming

Compiler internals

GPU CUDA programming

IRs and code generation

Parallel programming

Education

Bachelor's/Master's/Ph.D. in CS or related

Tools

LLVM

MLIR

Rustc

Job description

NVIDIA is dedicated to reinvent accelerated computing. Reinvention requires great technology and amazing people. 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 hiring a Senior Compiler Engineer to join our team driving the next generation of GPU systems programming. We are redefining how developers write high-performance GPU software by bringing the safety, expressiveness, and modern tooling of Rust to native GPU and CUDA development. On this team, you will build cutting-edge compiler pipelines, custom intermediate representation (IR) frameworks, and JIT compilation systems that bridge host and device execution-allowing developers to write memory-safe, high-performance GPU kernels in idiomatic Rust.

What you\'ll be doing:

• Develop Rust-to-GPU Compiler Pipelines: Design, implement, and maintain custom compiler backends (such as rustc codegen backends and proc-macros) and Rust-native intermediate representation (IR) frameworks to compile standard Rust directly to high-performance CUDA PTX and machine code.
• Build compiler IRs and Optimizers: Work with modern compiler architectures to lower Rust AST and MIR into IRs including MLIR, PTX, and LLVM, including GPU-specific optimizations.
• Support complex ahead-of-time, just-in-time, and link time optimization workflows: Build state-of-the-art tooling to support users targeting a broad family of NVIDIA GPUs, host platforms, and feature sets.
• Define Safe Parallel Abstractions: Architect innovative compiler-enforced safety models that extend Rust\'s ownership, borrowing, and lifetime disciplines across the GPU launch boundary-preventing data races and enforcing memory safety during asynchronous GPU execution.
• Expose Next-Gen Hardware Features: Implement type-safe, ergonomic device-side abstractions in Rust for low-level GPU hardware primitives, including shared memory, barriers, scoped atomics, Tensor Memory Accelerator (TMA), and warp/cluster-level operations.
• Build the future: Supporting today\'s accelerated computing applications is not sufficient. We have to build composable building blocks for others around us to build the applications of tomorrow.

What we need to see:

• Bachelor\'s, Master\'s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of relevant work or research experience in compiler development, language design, or GPU code generation.
• Deep expertise in the Rust programming language, including a strong grasp of compiler internals (rustc), Rust MIR, procedural macros, and Rust\'s borrow-checker/lifetime model.
• Hands-on experience with compiler infrastructures, intermediate representations (IRs), and code generation (such as LLVM IR, MLIR, or custom IR systems).
• Solid understanding of parallel programming models, GPU architectures, and CUDA programming.
• Strong software design skills, including debugging, profiling, and benchmarking compilers and GPU kernels.
• Ability to orchestrate agents for product requirement design, architecture, code development, testing, code review, and issue triage.
• Ability to work independently, define project goals and scope, and drive complex compiler-engineering efforts from research to production.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

• A track record of contributing to the Rust compiler (rustc), Cargo tooling, or open-source Rust-to-GPU projects.
• Experience building custom compiler front-ends, AST translators, or JIT engines.
• Familiarity with MLIR or other extensible compiler frameworks.
• Deep proficiency in low-level GPU programming, including the use of modern hardware features (e.g., Tensor Cores, warp-level shuffles, or asynchronous transfer pipelines).
• Experience designing Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) or tile-based programming abstractions for tensor processing.

With competitive salaries and a generous benefits package, we are widely considered to be one of the technology world\'s most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and hardworking people in the world working for us and, due to unprecedented growth, our exclusive engineering teams are rapidly growing. If you\'re a creative and autonomous engineer with a real passion for programming languages and systems technology, we want to hear from you.

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 152,000 USD - 241,500 USD.

You will also be eligible for equity and benefits .

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until July 25, 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.