Senior Software Architect, DriveOS

NVIDIA; California (MO); On-site; USD 224,000 - 356,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Eligibility for equity

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

A leading technology company in California is seeking a strong technical leader for its DriveOS software architecture group. The ideal candidate will have over 12 years of experience, with a strong background in embedded systems and system software. You will lead efforts to integrate advanced solutions for safe self-driving vehicles, collaborating with engineering teams at all levels. The role offers a competitive salary, eligibility for equity, and comprehensive benefits, reflecting the expertise required and the impact on cutting-edge automotive technology.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of related work experience required.
• 5+ years proficiency in Embedded Systems and System Software needed.
• Experience with industrial-grade quality standards compliance essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural development and integration for DriveOS.
• Provide insight and technical direction to teams.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to address system-level problems.

Skills

Technical leadership

Embedded Systems

System Software

Communication skills

Multi-core hardware

Concurrent design

Education

Master’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

AI tools (Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot)

Job description

DriveOS is the software platform that powers millions of autonomous vehicles and other intelligent machines around the world! It combines a virtualization platform, system software, and acceleration libraries for AI, computer vision pipelines, graphics, and multimedia processing. The system is certified for both automotive safety (ISO 26262 ASIL‑D) and cybersecurity (ISO 21434, UN Reg 155), and is being adapted to other regulated markets including robotics, avionics, and medical devices.

We’re looking for a strong technical leader: someone with the technical ability to deeply understand complex systems, apply modern methods to design creative solutions, and leadership to inspire our engineering teams across the entire company to implement them. As a key member of DriveOS software architecture group, you’ll focus on challenges unique to the automotive industry and our automotive products. With your help, we’ll be delivering advanced solutions to build safe and reliable self‑driving vehicle systems.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Work with software engineers and architects in system software, virtualization, graphics, compute, platform safety/security, sensor processing, and networking to decompose DriveOS requirements and align bottom‑up designs into integrated solutions.
• As a technical leader, provide insight and technical direction to resolve issues, drive development processes, and help improve our workflows and development methodology.
• Using strong communication skills, build and drive architecture, analysis documents and communications to internal and/or external audiences about our technology.
• Collaborate with the major software and hardware stakeholders throughout NVIDIA to tackle system‑level problems and influence NVIDIA SoC and GPU designs.

What We Need To See

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 12+ years related work experience.
• 5+ years proficiency in Embedded Systems and System Software.
• Strong understanding of multi‑core hardware, operating systems design, concurrency, and hardware acceleration.
• Experience with design and development software in compliance with industrial‑grade quality standards (ISO 26262, ISO 21434, ASPICE).
• Clear and concise communication and presentation skills.
• Highly organized and driven, with the ability to work in a dynamic, fast‑paced environment across multiple countries and time zones.

Ways To Stand Out From The Crowd

• Past Automotive AI/Autonomous System Software experience.
• Previous experience in highly matrixed organizations in a leadership position.
• Experience with formal verification of software programs.
• Experience with AI tools (Cursor, Claude Code, or GitHub Copilot).

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is $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 February 21, 2026.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.

NVIDIA is committed to fostering a diverse 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.