Senior Software Performance Engineer - Autonomous Vehicles

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

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

NVIDIA is hiring for an autonomous vehicles software specialist in Santa Clara, CA. You will develop and optimize C/C++ code for high-performance automotive software and collaborate with hardware, OS and safety teams to push the boundaries of AI-enabled driving systems.

This role demands advanced degrees, extensive experience with parallel architectures, performance analysis and MISRA-aligned coding standards, plus strong communication to align cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in CS, CS Architecture, EE or related field or equivalent experience.
• 12+ years of professional autonomous vehicles software experience.
• Excellent C and C++ programming skills.
• Strong understanding of parallel architectures and debugging.
• Solid system software knowledge and computer architecture.
• Experience with performance analysis, optimizations and benchmarking.
• Excellent communication and cross-team collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain and optimize latency and throughput of NVIDIA’s autonomous driving software.
• Devise acceleration strategies to improve software on heterogeneous hardware while meeting product goals.
• Develop highly efficient C++ code using CUDA/GPGPU and MISRA-aligned standards.
• Collaborate with HW, product, OS and safety teams to design next-gen products.

Skills

C++ programming

C programming

Parallel programming

Performance analysis

Communication skills

Education

Master’s or PhD in CS/EE or related

Tools

CUDA/GPGPU

ARM NEON

Job description

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. It’s a unique legacy of innovation that’s fueled by great technology—and amazing people. Today, we’re tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what’s never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world’s best talent. 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.

What you’ll be doing:

• Develop, maintain and optimize latency and throughput of NVIDIA’s L2/L3/L4 autonomous driving solutions.
• Devise acceleration strategies and patterns to improve software architecture and its efficiency on our computers with multiple heterogeneous hardware engines while meeting or exceeding product goals.
• Develop highly efficient product code in C++, making use of algorithmic parallelism offered by GPGPU programming (CUDA)/ARM NEON while following quality and safety standards such as defined by MISRA.
• Collaborate with HW, product, OS, and safety teams to design next-gen products.

What we need to see:

• MS or PhD degree in Computer Science, Computer Architecture, Electrical Engineering or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 12+ years of relevant professional experience working on autonomous vehicles software.
• Excellent C and C++ programming skills.
• Solid understanding of programming and debugging techniques, especially for parallel architectures.
• Good understanding of system software/operating systems and computer architecture.
• Experience with performance analysis, optimizations and benchmarking.
• Outstanding communication and collaboration skills as this role might require significant interfacing with other teams within NVIDIA.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

• Understanding of embedded architectures and real-time operating systems & scheduling.
• Strong mathematical fundamentals, including linear algebra and numerical methods.
• Experience implementing algorithms in robotics, computer vision, and/or machine learning.
• Software development experience with CUDA/GPGPU or any data parallel architectures.
• Deep learning architecture/performance work on any HW accelerator, especially if on GPUs.

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 August 17, 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.