Senior/Staff Software Engineer – Embedded AI Runtime

Talentlab; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

TalentLab is seeking a Senior/Staff Software Engineer to advance embedded AI runtime software for IoT platforms. You will work hands-on in the AI stack, focusing on runtime and SDK capabilities and ensuring efficient execution on constrained devices.

You’ll partner with hardware, OS, compiler and driver teams, leading feature work from design to integration and mentoring engineers as part of a broader architectural effort.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional software development experience, with staff‑level depth.
• Advanced C/C++ development skills.
• Experience developing systems software in Linux or Unix environments.
• Strong fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, OO design, debugging, testing.
• Experience with embedded software or hardware proximity software.
• Ability to own complex problems and drive to completion.
• Experience providing technical leadership within a team.
• Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD in CS/CE/EE or related discipline.

Responsibilities

• Develop AI runtime and SDK capabilities for embedded and IoT platforms.
• Lead major features from design through implementation and integration.
• Develop high‑performance systems software primarily in C/C++.
• Enable efficient execution of DNNs, LLMs on-device.
• Collaborate with platform, hardware, OS, compiler and driver teams.
• Debug issues spanning AI runtime, OS, compilers, drivers and hardware.
• Provide technical guidance to engineers and contribute to architecture and planning.

Skills

6+ years experience

Advanced C/C++

Linux/Unix development

Data structures & algorithms

Embedded software

Technical leadership

On-device AI/edge computing

Problem ownership

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD in CS/CE/EE

Tools

Git

GCC/Make

Job description

Senior/Staff Software Engineer – Embedded AI Runtime

Senior/Staff Software Engineer – Embedded AI Runtime

Location: San Diego, California
Focus: C/C++, Embedded AI, AI Runtimes, IoT

TalentLab is recruiting a Senior/Staff Software Engineer to join a team developing high-performance AI runtime software for IoT platforms.

This is a hands-on software engineering role focused on the infrastructure that enables modern AI models to execute efficiently on-device. Rather than building or training models, you'll work deeper in the AI software stack — developing runtime and SDK capabilities, integrating with edge and IoT platforms, and solving performance and compatibility challenges across hardware and software.

You'll work with advanced neural network architectures including DNNs and LLMs while collaborating closely with hardware, operating systems, compiler, driver and AI software teams.

What You'll Work On

Develop and enhance AI runtime and SDK capabilities for embedded and IoT platforms.

Lead significant features from technical design through implementation, debugging and integration.

Develop high-performance systems software primarily in C/C++.

Enable efficient execution of DNNs, LLMs and other modern neural network architectures.

Integrate AI software across multiple embedded product platforms.

Debug complex issues spanning AI runtime software, operating systems, compilers, drivers and hardware.

Work closely with platform, hardware and software engineering teams.

Evaluate new developments in AI and systems software and determine how they can improve the runtime platform.

Provide technical guidance to other engineers and contribute to broader architecture and technical planning.

What We're Looking For

Strong professional software development experience, ideally 6+ years, with deeper experience expected at the Staff level.

Advanced C/C++ development skills.

Experience developing systems software in Linux or Unix environments.

Strong software engineering fundamentals including data structures, algorithms, object-oriented design, debugging and testing.

Experience building embedded software or working close to hardware.

Ability to independently own complex technical problems and drive them through to completion.

Experience providing technical leadership or guidance within a software engineering team.

Bachelor's, Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or a related discipline.

Particularly Relevant Experience

We're especially interested in candidates with experience in one or more of the following:

AI runtimes, inference engines or AI SDK development.

Embedded or on-device AI.

DNN, CNN, RNN/LSTM, LLM or other neural network architectures.

Hardware-accelerated AI inference.

Low-level interactions between operating systems and hardware.

Linux, Android, QNX or similar embedded operating systems.

Debugging across hardware, OS, compiler and driver layers.

AI accelerator, DSP, GPU or NPU software.

Agile development and Git-based source control.

This is a strong fit for an experienced systems software engineer who wants to work underneath the models, solving the runtime, performance and platform challenges required to bring advanced AI capabilities onto real-world embedded devices.