Principal Software Engineer

Details

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. Today, NVIDIA is tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. This role is on the Software Infrastructure team in Santa Clara, CA and blends large-scale database transformation with the design and development of GPU-accelerated platforms. You will create software systems, automation frameworks, and high-performance database services that power NVIDIA's AI workloads at scale.

Responsibilities

• Design and build software platforms that transform legacy database systems into modern, containerized, and scalable architectures.
• Run vector database services and query engines to handle AI/ML data workloads with ultra-low latency.
• Create automation frameworks for provisioning, schema evolution, scaling, and failover integrated into CI/CD workflows.
• Collaborate with AI/ML and application engineers to design optimized data models, APIs, and query patterns for large-scale training and inference pipelines.
• Build developer-focused tooling for monitoring, profiling, and debugging database performance in real time.
• Implement secure-by-design database services with enterprise-grade identity, access control, and secrets management.
• Prototype and evaluate new database technologies, query accelerators, and storage engines to push the boundaries of performance.
• Contribute to architecture, coding standards, and best practices for long-term platform evolution.

Requirements

• 15+ years of software engineering experience with deep expertise in database systems or distributed data platforms.
• Bachelor's degree in information security, IT, Compliance, or a related field, or equivalent experience (Master’s preferred).
• Strong programming skills in Python, Go, C++, or Java, with a track record of building production-grade systems.
• Proven experience designing high-performance, high-availability relational database services (PostgreSQL or equivalent).
• Experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes) and cloud-native database deployment patterns.
• Strong background in query optimization, data partitioning, and large-scale performance tuning.
• Hands-on experience integrating database services into CI/CD pipelines.

Ways to stand out

• Designed or contributed to GPU-accelerated query engines or real-time analytics platforms.
• Open-source contributions in the database, distributed systems, or AI/ML infrastructure space.
• Expertise in hybrid/multi-region database replication strategies for low-latency AI workloads.
• Strong understanding of observability and performance profiling tools for complex data systems.
• Experience in building platforms that directly support AI/ML research and production deployment.

Compensation & Other Details

• Base salary range: 248,000 USD - 391,000 USD (determined based on location, experience, and pay of employees in similar positions).
• Eligible for equity and benefits.
• Applications accepted at least until August 18, 2025.

Diversity & Inclusion

NVIDIA is committed to fostering a diverse work environment and is an equal opportunity employer. They do not discriminate 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.