Senior Software Architect, AI Systems and Networking

2100 NVIDIA USA; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 224,000 - 431,000; Full time

Job summary

NVIDIA California is seeking a Senior Architect to own core modules of distributed AI networking software. You will drive end-to-end ownership from research questions to shipping production code, working at the boundary of applied research and production engineering.

You will architect high-performance communication libraries, drive hardware-software co-optimization with GPU/DPU/NIC teams, and mentor engineers while contributing to open-source projects. Competitive compensation offered.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in systems software and/or networking with ownership of complex projects.
• MS, PhD or equivalent in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong C/C++/Rust systems programming with comfort in performance profiling and low-level debugging.
• Understanding of ML systems concepts—transformer architectures, KV cache mechanics, model parallelism, or distributed training and inference patterns.

Responsibilities

• Architect high-performance communication and memory management libraries for distributed AI.
• Drive hardware-software co-optimization with GPU, DPU, NIC, and switch teams through GPUDirect RDMA, NVLink, and next-generation interconnects.
• Profiling and optimizing data movement across GPU memory, system DRAM, NVMe, and network fabrics.
• Integrating networking capabilities into AI serving stacks such as vLLM, SGLang, and TensorRT-LLM.
• Contributing to and maintaining open-source projects, mentoring engineers, conducting design reviews, and prototyping experimental technologies to evaluate their viability.

Skills

C/C++

Rust

Performance profiling

Transformer architectures

Distributed training

Model parallelism

Education

MS or PhD in CS/CE/EE

Tools

InfiniBand

RoCE

RDMA

NVLink

GPUDirect

vLLM

TensorRT-LLM

Job description

An applied research team within NVIDIA’s Networking Systems & Software Architecture group is solving some of AI’s hardest infrastructure problems.

The team builds systems-level software that moves data between GPUs, nodes, and storage at the speed modern AI demands—spanning low-level transport optimization, hardware-software co-design, and communication frameworks that plug directly into production AI stacks. The team's charter expands into emerging domains including quantum computing interconnects.

The Senior Architect role is to own modules and projects end-to-end—from scoping research questions to shipping production code. It calls for a recognized expert who drives technical decisions, pulls in ideas from research and industry, and regularly prototypes new approaches to prove a point. The work lives at the boundary of applied research and production engineering!

What you will be doing:

• Architecting and implementing high-performance communication and memory management libraries for distributed AI
• Driving hardware-software co-optimization with GPU, DPU, NIC, and switch teams through GPUDirect RDMA, NVLink, and next-generation interconnects
• Profiling and optimizing data movement across GPU memory, system DRAM, NVMe, and network fabrics
• Integrating networking capabilities into AI serving stacks such as vLLM, SGLang, and TensorRT-LLM
• Contributing to and maintaining open-source projects, mentoring engineers, conducting design reviews, and prototyping experimental technologies to evaluate their viability

What we need to see:

12+ years in systems software and/or networking with demonstrated ownership of complex projects. MS, PhD or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field. Solid understanding of high-performance networking: InfiniBand, RoCE, RDMA, NVLink, GPUDirect. Strong C/C++/Rust systems programming with comfort in performance profiling and low-level debugging. Understanding of ML systems concepts—transformer architectures, KV cache mechanics, model parallelism, or distributed training and inference patterns.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

• Knowledge of ML inference frameworks (vLLM, SGLang, TensorRT-LLM) and their communication requirements
• Knowledge of storage networking (NVMe-oF, GPUDirect Storage, S3)
• Background of Reinforcement Learning systems

With competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package, NVIDIA is widely regarded as one of the most desirable technology employers in the world. Our teams are composed of some of the most forward‑thinking and driven engineers in the industry, and we continue to grow rapidly.

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: 224,000 USD – 356,500 USD for Level 5; and 272,000 USD – 431,250 USD for Level 6. 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.