Software Engineer, Agent Performance Modeling - New College Grad 2026

NVIDIA Corporation; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 124,000 - 242,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

NVIDIA Corporation in Santa Clara, CA is seeking a highly motivated MS-trained computer scientist to advance LLM performance modeling for next-generation AI hardware. You will build and validate performance models across GPUs and heterogeneous systems, and develop agents to automate simulation workflows.

You will collaborate with architecture, inference, runtime, and compiler teams, applying roofline analysis and rigorous experimentation to improve modeling accuracy and drive design-space

Qualifications

• MS in Computer Science or related field or equivalent experience.
• Familiarity with modern LLM architectures and inference characteristics.
• Experience with simulation, profiling, or performance modeling, including roofline analysis for LLM inference.
• Strong analytical skills and rigorous experimentation.

Responsibilities

• Build and validate performance models for LLM across GPU/LPUs and heterogeneous systems.
• Develop agents to automate simulation workflows and analyze bottlenecks.
• Collaborate with hardware architecture, inference, runtime, and compiler teams to improve modeling accuracy.

Skills

MS in CS

LLM architectures

Simulation

Roofline analysis

Analytical

Automation tools

Education

MS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Profiling tools

Simulation frameworks

Job description

Today, NVIDIA is 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 an inclusive, encouraging environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work. Come join the team and see how we can make a lasting impact on the world. As LLM architectures and inference workloads evolve, understanding how they map to hardware is critical to designing efficient AI systems. Our team combines simulation and agentic engineering to understand emerging architectures and inform hardware and software decisions.

What you’ll be doing:

• Building and validating performance models for LLM architectures across GPU, LPU, and heterogeneous systems.
• Developing agents to automate simulation workflows, analyze bottlenecks, and accelerate design space exploration.
• Collaborating with hardware architecture, inference, runtime, and compiler teams to improve modeling accuracy and guide optimization.

What we need to see:

• Recently completed a MS in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Familiarity with modern LLM architectures and their inference characteristics.
• Experience with simulation, profiling, or performance modeling, including roofline analysis for LLM inference.
• Strong analytical skills and a rigorous approach to experimentation and validation.
• Experience building reliable engineering tools using coding agents.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

• Experience building agents that automate complex engineering workflows.
• Knowledge of accelerator architecture and compute, memory, or communication bottlenecks.
• Open-source contributions in agentic systems, simulation, or inference optimization.

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 124,000 USD - 195,500 USD for Level 2, and 152,000 USD - 241,500 USD for Level 3. You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until October 24, 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.

NVIDIA pioneers accelerated computing. Today, our AI infrastructure powers global intelligence, transforming every industry.

Learn more about NVIDIA.