Staff ML Performance Engineer, Performance Architecture

Wayve; Sunnyvale (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salaries benchmarked annually

Equity

Relocation support

Hybrid working

Learning & development budgets

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Wayve is building the leading AI platform for autonomous driving with a mapless, hardware-agnostic approach. This role focuses on performance engineering across ML systems, GPU compute and distributed platforms, shaping optimisations for training and cloud inference.

You will profile workloads, implement cross-target improvements, collaborate with Research, model and platform teams, and deliver benchmarks and tooling to track gains while advancing Wayve's AI driver toward real-world deployment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of industry experience driving performance engineering across ML systems, GPU compute infrastructure, and distributed platforms.
• Optimised large-scale workloads on GPU compute clusters for training and inference.
• Written, reported and tracked performance benchmarks in an open, accessible way.
• Proficiency in Python with high-quality, well-structured, tested code.
• BS or MS in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Engineering or related technical discipline, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Profile ML workloads to identify bottlenecks across training and cloud inference.
• Design and implement cross-target optimisations (kernels, data loaders, frameworks like Triton).
• Build reusable benchmarking tools to track gains and catch regressions.
• Collaborate with Research, model, and platform teams to integrate performance into development.
• Inform cloud GPU hardware strategy and readiness with platform teams.
• Foster a culture of performance optimisation within teams.

Skills

Performance engineering

Python

GPU compute

Profiling

System optimization

Education

BS or MS in ML/CS/Engineering or related

Tools

Nsight Systems

CUDA

Triton

Job description

Before the detail, here's the challenge you'd help us solve.

We build the embodied intelligence that moves real vehicles safely, and the ecosystem a billion machines will run on in the future. Very few people in AI can say this. Every role here, whatever the team, plugs into that.

About Our Engineering Teams

The Performance Architecture team is part of Wayve's AI Performance org. We make Wayve's AI workloads faster and more efficient across training and cloud inference, so that performance unlocks new product capability. Our work lets Wayve train larger models faster and run inference more efficiently at scale.

Your day-to-day

You'll identify, quantify and deliver optimisations across training and cloud inference workloads. You'll profile workloads to find bottlenecks, build optimisations that work across targets rather than one-off fixes, and track the gains with clear benchmarks. You'll work closely with Research and model teams to make performance engineering part of their development cycle, and with platform teams on cloud GPU hardware strategy.

What You'll Be Working On

• Profiling ML workloads across training and cloud inference to identify bottlenecks, using system and kernel level profilers
• Designing and implementing efficiency improvements to maximise MFU, throughput and utilisation, e.g. parallelism, compilation, mixed precision, caching
• Building reusable, cross-target optimisations (kernels, data loaders, frameworks such as Triton) rather than one-off, per-workflow fixes
• Designing and implementing benchmarking tools to track efficiency gains and catch regressions on priority training and cloud inference workloads
• Informing cloud GPU hardware strategy and readiness in partnership with platform teams
• Building a culture of performance optimisation with Research and model teams

You should apply if

• You have 10+ years of industry experience driving performance engineering across ML systems, GPU compute infrastructure, distributed platforms or similar
• You have optimised large-scale workloads on GPU compute clusters, for training, inference or both
• You have written, reported and tracked performance benchmarks in an open and accessible way
• You write high quality, well-structured and tested Python code
• You have a BS or MS in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent experience

Nice To Have

• Experience with concurrent, parallel and distributed computing
• Experience optimising inference serving systems (e.g. latency, throughput, batching, caching)
• Experience using NVIDIA Nsight Systems or other system profilers
• Experience implementing GPU kernels (CUDA, Triton, etc.)
• Knowledge of computing fundamentals - what makes code fast, secure and reliable

Not ticking every box? That’s totally okay! If you’re passionate about autonomy and keen to learn, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every requirement.

More About Wayve

Wayve is building the leading AI platform for autonomous driving. We are pioneering an end to end AI approach that enables vehicles to learn directly from real world experience, developing the ability to adapt, generalise and improve at scale. Instead of relying on hand coded rules or pre mapped environments, our AI Driver learns to drive by understanding the world around it. The result is technology that navigates complex urban environments with intelligence, precision and natural flow, unlocking meaningful advances in both safety and efficiency. We believe autonomy represents a once in a generation transformation in how people and goods move, comparable to the shift from horses to cars, and from human driven vehicles to intelligent machines.

Our ambition is to make autonomy universal. Wayve’s mapless and hardware agnostic AI platform integrates with global OEM partners, enabling continuous software evolution and unlocking advanced levels of automation from L2 plus through to L4 as our core AI model scales. In a race increasingly defined by intelligence and real world learning, Wayve is taking a distinct approach, building a generalisable driving intelligence that can power any vehicle, anywhere. By combining embodied AI with scalable deployment, we are creating technology that can be shaped to each OEM brand and driver experience, accelerating the transition to a safer, more intelligent future of mobility.

How we work - Locations & Flexible Working:

Our main hubs are in London, Sunnyvale, Yokohama, Herzliya, Vancouver and Leonberg. We operate a hybrid working model that combines in-person collaboration in our dedicated office spaces with focused time working remotely. This gives our teams the connection and energy of working together, alongside the flexibility to do their best work in a way that fits their lives.

The Interview Process

• Initial call / recruiter screen
• Deep-dive technical interviews (Programming, System Design, Domain, Technical Leadership)
• Final interview: mission & values alignment

We’ll always explain the format and work around your availability.

What’s in it for you (Location dependant):

• Salaries benchmarked against the market annually
• Meaningful equity, sharing in the ownership and long term success of Wayve
• Relocation support and visa sponsorship where applicable
• Hybrid working, core hours and the chance to work hands on in vehicle workshops and labs
• Learning and development budgets with support for training, conferences and growth
• Comprehensive benefits including health insurance, dental, enhanced maternity and paternity leave, retirement or pension where applicable, access to therapists, wellbeing partnerships, team socials and more

A quick, honest note before you apply.

Wayve is not a mature, fully-structured place with the playbook already written. Much of how we work is still being written, and if you join, you’ll help write it. That suits people who want real ownership more than people who need a settled structure from day one.

At Wayve we're committed to creating a diverse, fair and respectful culture that is inclusive of everyone based on their unique skills and perspectives, and regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis as protected by applicable law.

For more information visit Careers at Wayve. To learn more about what drives us, visit Values at Wayve

DISCLAIMER: We will not ask about marriage or pregnancy, care responsibilities or disabilities in any of our job adverts or interviews. However, we do look to capture information about care responsibilities, and disabilities among other diversity information as part of an optional DEI Monitoring form to help us identify areas of improvement in our hiring process and ensure that the process is inclusive and non-discriminatory.