Senior Software Engineer - Compute Performance

In 2012, Lambda started with a crew of AI engineers publishing research at top machine-learning conferences. We began as an AI company built by AI engineers. That hasn't changed. Today, we're on a mission to be the world's top AI computing platform. We equip engineers with the tools to deploy AI that is fast, secure, affordable, and built to scale. Whether they need powerhouse GPU hardware on-site or the flexibility of cloud-based solutions, we've got the horsepower to make it happen. Lambda’s AI Cloud has been adopted by the world’s leading companies and research institutions including Anyscale, Rakuten, The AI Institute, and multiple enterprises with over a trillion dollars of market capitalization. Our goal is to make computation as effortless and ubiquitous as electricity.

If you'd like to build the world's best deep learning cloud, join us. 

*Note: This position requires presence in our San Francisco office location 4 days per week; Lambda’s designated work from home day is currently Tuesday.

What You’ll Do

• Join a world-class engineering team building the backbone of AI infrastructure.

• You’ll focus on deep performance instrumentation of Linux systems at scale, optimizing everything from the kernel to the network stack to GPU I/O paths.

• You’ll use tools like eBPF, perf, ftrace, bcc, bpftrace, and custom tracing frameworks to uncover bottlenecks, improve observability, and guide architectural decisions.

• You’ll collaborate with experts across kernel, storage, networking, and virtualization to improve the speed, reliability, and efficiency of our compute fleet.

• You’ll help design and implement a testing framework for sku based performance comparison and analysis.

You

• Background - Linux Performance Engineer (eBPF / Kernel Instrumentation)

• Linux - 8+ years profiling Linux based production systems. Strong understanding of Linux kernel internals (e.g. Memory Management, Process Scheduling, I/O Scheduling, Cgoups, NUMA, Page Cache, KVM Internals).

• Performance Tools - 8+ years hands-on experience with eBPF, perf, ftrace, systemtap, bpftrace, or other low-level instrumentation techniques. Bonus if you’ve built custom profiling tools.

• Architecture - Ability to reason from fundamental architectural principles. Deep understanding of modern hardware (x86_64, ARM64, GPUs), kernel/firmware interfaces, and system-level debugging.

• Programming Languages - Strong C and Python background. Rust, and Go are nice to have. Minimum of 8 years implementing business-critical systems, from initial conception to successful launch.

• Education - Computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, or physics preferred

You will be successful in this role if you have

• Owned ambiguous, high-impact initiatives from investigation to production

• Are energized by hunting down performance regressions or kernel quirks

• Enjoy profiling, benchmarking, and building tools to better understand system behavior

• Value working on a low ego team that emphasizes strong communication, collaboration, and getting to the right answer as a team.

• Write production-ready code that’s tested, maintainable, and performant

Salary Range Information 

Based on market data and other factors, the salary range for this position is $255,000-$405,000. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.

About Lambda

• Founded in 2012, ~350 employees (2024) and growing fast

• We offer generous cash & equity compensation

• Our investors include Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, US Innovative Technology, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, Crescent Cove.

• We are experiencing extremely high demand for our systems, with quarter over quarter, year over year profitability

• Our research papers have been accepted into top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOG

• Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents

• Commuter/Work from home stipends for select roles

• 401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees)

• Flexible Paid Time Off Plan that we all actually use

A Final Note:

You do not need to match all of the listed expectations to apply for this position. We are committed to building a team with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lambda is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.