Senior Infrastructure Software Engineer

Lightning AI; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Equity (RSUs)

401(k) matching

Unlimited PTO

Winter break

Parental leave

Learning allowance

Wellness stipend

Sabbatical after 4 years

Hybrid work model

In-office meals

Job summary

Lightning AI is seeking a Senior Infrastructure Software Engineer to join the Infrastructure Engineering team. You will build software and automation for large-scale GPU and bare-metal infrastructure, enabling provisioning, monitoring, and lifecycle management across thousands of servers and networks.

The role blends software engineering with Linux systems and hardware-aware automation, collaborating with cross-functional teams to scale operations and improve reliability.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software or infrastructure engineering experience.
• Strong Python and OO programming fundamentals; production backend experience.
• Strong Linux production experience and ability to build scalable infrastructure.
• Experience building APIs, tooling, or automation for large-scale infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate production services, APIs, tooling, and automation for large-scale bare-metal and GPU infrastructure.
• Extend systems for provisioning, configuration, monitoring, and lifecycle management.
• Develop reliable automation to reduce manual work and improve scalability.
• Build interfaces and tooling to interact programmatically with physical infrastructure.

Skills

Python

Linux

APIs & automation

Containerization

Automation tooling

HPC infrastructure

Startup experience

Architectural decisions

Tools

PXE/iPXE

BMC

Redfish/IPMI

Dell HW

GPU servers

SONiC networks

Palo Alto firewalls

Juniper networks

VAST storage

Job description

Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.

Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.

We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.

The Way We Work

The people who thrive here are builders who move fast, communicate openly, take ownership, and continuously improve themselves, their teams, and our company. Here's what that looks like in practice:

• Move with Urgency: We move quickly, make thoughtful decisions, and keep momentum. We value action over perfection and learn by shipping.
• Take Ownership: We own outcomes, not just our individual work. We make decisions that move the company forward and follow through.
• Communicate Openly: We communicate directly, seek to understand, and create clarity for others. Honest conversations help us move faster together.
• Build Great Teams: We lead by example, empower others, and create healthy teams where people can do their best work.
• Raise the Bar: We're always improving ourselves. We learn from feedback, consistently challenge ourselves to grow, and focus on the work that matters most.
• Think Long-Term: We design for what's next. We create scalable systems, simplify complexity, and use AI and automation to amplify our impact.

About the Role

Lightning AI is seeking a Senior Infrastructure Software Engineer to join our Infrastructure Engineering team.

Our Infrastructure Engineering team builds the software systems that operate and manage Lightning AI’s large-scale GPU and bare-metal infrastructure. We develop services, APIs, tooling, and automation that bridge the gap between our physical infrastructure and the systems our customers depend on for AI/ML training, inference, and HPC workloads.

In this role, you will build production software and automation that support infrastructure throughout its lifecycle, from provisioning and bring-up through monitoring, maintenance, and decommissioning. You will design systems that enable engineers and software to interact programmatically with thousands of servers, storage systems, and high-performance networks, reducing manual operations and making infrastructure management more reliable, repeatable, and scalable.

This is a software-first infrastructure role that combines strong software engineering with Linux systems and hardware-aware infrastructure automation. You will work closely with teams across Infrastructure, Networking, Data Center Operations, and Platform Engineering to bring new capacity online and continuously improve how we operate our infrastructure at scale.

This role is based in one of our hubs (NYC, SF, Seattle, or London), with a minimum of 2 in-office days per week and occasional team and company offsites. We are not able to provide visa sponsorship for this position at this time.

What You Will Do

Infrastructure Software & Automation

• Design, build, and operate production services, APIs, tooling, and automation for managing large-scale bare-metal and GPU infrastructure
• Build and extend software systems that support infrastructure provisioning, configuration, monitoring, and lifecycle management
• Develop reliable automation that reduces manual operational work and improves the consistency and scalability of infrastructure management
• Build tools and interfaces that enable engineers and other systems to interact programmatically with physical infrastructure

Provisioning & Lifecycle Management

• Build and extend systems for server discovery, provisioning, configuration, validation, and lifecycle management
• Automate infrastructure bring-up and capacity deployment across large fleets of compute systems
• Integrate software and automation with hardware management and provisioning systems
• Improve tooling and workflows for managing infrastructure throughout its production lifecycle

Reliability & Observability

• Build telemetry, logging, and observability capabilities that provide visibility into the health of our infrastructure
• Develop tools and automation to identify, diagnose, and respond to infrastructure and hardware issues
• Translate recurring operational issues and hardware failure modes into improvements to software, tooling, and automation
• Improve the reliability and scalability of infrastructure operations as the fleet grows

Architecture & Collaboration

• Partner with Network, Infrastructure Operations, Data Center, Platform Engineering, and other teams to define requirements and build new infrastructure capabilities
• Participate in architectural discussions and help define the technical direction of Lightning AI’s infrastructure software
• Make pragmatic design decisions that balance reliability, scalability, simplicity, and speed of execution
• Write clear design documents and technical documentation and contribute to engineering best practices

Who You Are

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering, infrastructure engineering, or related experience
• Strong software engineering fundamentals and experience building production backend systems in Python or similar object‑oriented programming languages
• Strong experience with Linux in production environments
• Experience building APIs, tooling, or automation for managing infrastructure at scale
• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration concepts
• Understanding of HPC and bare-metal infrastructure fundamentals, including provisioning and out-of-band management
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and make pragmatic architecture decisions while building for long-term reliability and scale
• Experience working in a startup or other fast‑paced environment with a high degree of ownership and autonomy

Ideal Experience

• Experience with bare-metal hardware troubleshooting and provisioning, including technologies such as PXE/iPXE, BMC, Redfish, or IPMI, particularly with Dell hardware
• Experience with GPU servers, either in bare-metal environments or under virtualization
• Experience with network switches, routers, and firewalls, particularly SONiC switches, Palo Alto firewalls, or Juniper Networks
• Experience with high-performance storage systems, particularly VAST
• Experience supporting AI/ML or HPC infrastructure at scale

Compensation

We are committed to offering competitive compensation that reflects the value each team member brings to our mission. Final offers are based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, and role expectations. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package for eligible roles includes a discretionary bonus, a meaningful equity component, and comprehensive benefits.

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is:

$180,000 - $220,000 USD

Benefits and Perks

We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees’ health, well‑being, and long‑term success:

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
• Meaningful Equity: RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long‑term success.
• Retirement Savings: 401(k) matching (U.S.) and pension contributions (U.K.).
• Flexible Time Off: Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays to support work‑life balance.
• Company‑Wide Winter Break: Two weeks of company closure each winter to disconnect and recharge.
• Paid Parental & Family Leave: Paid leave to support you and your family through life's important moments.
• Professional Development: Annual learning and development allowance to support your professional growth.
• Wellness Benefits: Wellness and work‑from‑home stipends to support your physical and mental well‑being.
• Sabbatical Program: Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service.
• Flexible Work: Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for our office‑based teams.
• In‑Office Meals: Complimentary meals at our office hubs.

Benefits may vary by location, team, and role.

At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.