Senior Software Systems Engineer - Autonomous Vehicles

NVIDIA; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 184,000 - 357,000; Full time

Job summary

Join NVIDIA's Autonomous Vehicle Platform team as a Senior Software Systems Engineer. You will design and develop core technology for autonomous vehicles, focusing on software architecture improvements, system scalability, and performance tuning in real-time environments. This role requires extensive experience in C/C++ programming and collaboration across diverse teams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software development experience.
• Solid background in C and C++ programming.
• Hands-on experience with multithreaded, real-time systems.

Responsibilities

• Driving architectural improvements that simplify and modularize the software stack.
• Designing clean boundaries between core components and OEM-specific implementations.
• Profiling and tuning system performance.

Skills

C programming

C++ programming

Modular software architecture

System performance tuning

Multithreading

Real-time systems

Collaboration skills

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Engineering, Computer Science

Tools

Linux

QNX

Embedded RTOS

Git

Bazel

Job description

Come join the team and see how you can make a lasting impact on the world!

Our Autonomous Vehicle Platform team builds the NVIDIA DriveWorks SDK with the goal to provide a scalable software stack and framework to build autonomous vehicles. We are seeking a highly motivated senior software systems engineer with interests on designing, developing and maintaining many aspects of the core technology such as sensor interfaces, data streaming, threading, memory management and lower level platform specific technology.

What you will be doing:

• Driving architectural improvements that simplify and modularize the software stack.

• Designing clean boundaries between NVIDIA core components and OEM-specific implementations.

• Refactoring ADAS components to support reuse, extensibility, and long-term maintainability.

• Improving system-level scalability through IPC, middleware, and platform abstraction layers.

• Partnering with teams across software, systems, and hardware to define clear interfaces and improve integration velocity.

• Establishing test coverage, design reviews, and architectural documentation that scales with the platform.

• Profiling and tuning system performance — optimizing for modern multi-core and real-time environments.

What we need to see:

• Bachelors or Masters in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field or relevant experience.

• 7+ years of professional software development experience.

• Solid background in C and C++ programming.

• Strong understanding of modular software architecture, clean code design, and separation of concerns.

• Hands-on experience building and debugging multithreaded, real-time, or performance-critical systems.

• Familiarity with parallel/distributed systems and low-level system profiling.

• Comfortable working in Linux, QNX, or other embedded RTOS environments.

• Exceptional communication skills and a collaborative, hard-working attitude.

Ways to Stand Out From The Crowd:

• Experience developing ADAS software — especially in components like Planning, Sensor Fusion, Mapping, or Localization.

• .Deep understanding of real-time operating systems, particularly QNX

• Familiarity with the automotive software lifecycle and integration across safety-critical systems.

• Experience using Git and Bazel in large-scale software environments.

• Ability to work across system, hardware, and algorithm teams with precision and clarity.

Widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers, NVIDIA offers highly competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. As you plan your future, see what we can offer to you and your family www.nvidiabenefits.com/

The base salary range is 184,000 USD - 356,500 USD. Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions.

You will also be eligible for equity and benefits. NVIDIA accepts applications on an ongoing basis.

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.