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System Software Engineer, Performance - CUDA Driver

NVIDIA· Engineer, Sys SW
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Santa Clara, CA$124k - $195.5kfull-timePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Systems software engineer role focused on performance-centric features and optimizations in the CUDA driver and runtime, with cross-layer collaboration and potential hardware/software co-design across generations.

Responsibilities

  • Design, implement, validate, and ship performance-centric features and programming-model capabilities in the CUDA driver and runtime, writing maintainable, well-tested production C/C++.
  • Optimize critical execution paths—including kernel launch, synchronization, memory management & movement, CPU–GPU coordination, and system interconnect use—for latency, throughput, bandwidth, efficiency, and scalability.
  • Own complex performance problems end-to-end - understand important workloads, form hypotheses, create focused measurements and models, isolate root causes across software and hardware boundaries, implement production solutions, and validate application-level impact.
  • Establish performance expectations for current and future platforms, characterize new silicon, close software and hardware gaps, and drive performance readiness through product release.
  • Translate workload and platform evidence into CUDA API and programming-model improvements, systems-software direction, and measurement-backed recommendations for future hardware architecture and implementation.
  • Partner with application, library, framework, operating-system, driver, runtime, firmware, GPU architecture, silicon, product, and customer-facing teams; communicate findings clearly and raise engineering quality through design and code reviews.
  • Lead complex feature development and cross-layer investigations across teams, define performance requirements and technical direction for major subsystems, mentor engineers, and shape hardware/software decisions for future product generations.

Qualifications

  • A BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field—or equivalent practical experience — with at least 2 years of relevant systems-software development experience.
  • Strong production C/C++ systems-programming experience, including delivery of substantial features, optimizations, or production fixes in a complex codebase.
  • Strong operating systems and concurrency foundations, including threads, synchronization, processes, virtual memory, and user/kernel interactions.
  • Strong computer-architecture foundations, including processors, memory hierarchy, caching and coherence, data movement, and system interconnects.
  • Demonstrated success improving real software performance: measuring behavior, identifying the limiting mechanism, implementing an effective solution, and validating the result quantitatively.
  • Sound technical judgment, ownership of ambiguous problems, and clear communication across organizational and disciplinary boundaries.
  • Direct CUDA or GPU experience is valuable but is not required when accompanied by deep systems-software, operating-systems, computer-architecture, and performance-engineering foundations.

Skills

Required:C/C++ programmingOperating systemsComputer architecture

Benefits

  • equity
  • benefits
Last updated Oct 16, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

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