Roles at frontier labs · Systems and infrastructure
GPU Kernel and Performance Engineer
40 recorded postings · Partial update · October 8, 2026
Recorded postings, not a live vacancy count. Partial update: some sources retain earlier observations; each listing has its own check date.
Performance engineers make training and inference use the hardware well: GPU and TPU kernels, compilers, numerics and the profiling that finds where time goes.
- Inference and serving 73%
- GPU kernels 73%
- How language models work 43%
- JAX 40%
- C++, Rust or Go 40%
- PyTorch 38%
taught here course coming not taught
The numbers
- Recorded postings at 13 labs
- 40
- Median base pay middle half $338k to $565k, 25 U.S. bands
- $396k
- No degree requirement stated 3% require a PhD outright
- 83%
- Years asked, median of the 10 that state a minimum
- 3
The recorded snapshot
Postings from 13 labs
In the labs' own words
In the labs' own words
“Are proficient in Rust for systems programming, with experience developing Linux kernel code in Rust alongside C.”
“Implement low-latency high-throughput sampling for large language models”
“Strong background in GPU programming and parallel computing, such as CUDA and/or Triton.”
Your way in
Three doors to this role
- Door 1
Finishing a degree
5% mention publications
The way in is a program: 32 recorded in the snapshot
- Door 2
A software engineer
83% have no degree requirement stated
What to add
- Door 3
A PhD
28% ask for distributed training
Engineering at scale
Asked often
The short answers
How much does a gpu kernel and performance engineer at a frontier lab make?
The median U.S. base salary across 25 recorded gpu kernel and performance engineer postings that publish a band is $396k; the middle half runs from $338k to $565k. Equity and bonus are not included.
Do you need a PhD to be a gpu kernel and performance engineer?
83% of the 40 recorded postings do not state a degree requirement, 8% mention a PhD or master's, and 3% require a PhD outright.
What skills do gpu kernel and performance engineer postings ask for?
Most often: inference and serving (73%), gpu kernels (73%), how language models work (43%), jax (40%), c++, rust or go (40%).
Which labs posted gpu kernel and performance engineer roles in this recorded board?
Recorded board: OpenAI (10), Anthropic (7), Together AI (5), Meta (Superintelligence Labs and FAIR) (4), Cohere (3), Liquid AI (2), and 7 more.
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The board
Recorded postings, newest first
Each title opens the lab's own posting. By family: ml systems and infrastructure · research scientists and engineers · fellowships, residencies and internships
- Engineering Manager, GPU (ML Accelerator) ↗
Anthropic · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $500k to $850k base
- Performance Engineer ↗
Anthropic · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $280k to $850k base
- Performance Engineer, GPU ↗
Anthropic · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $280k to $850k base
- Performance Engineer, Inference Engine ↗
Anthropic · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $350k to $850k base
- Performance Engineer, Inference Systems ↗
Anthropic · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $350k to $850k base
- Research Engineer / Performance Engineer, RL Distributed Systems ↗
Anthropic · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated · $500k to $850k base
- TPU Kernel Engineer ↗
Anthropic · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $280k to $850k base
- Engineering Manager, GPU Infrastructure ↗
Cohere · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated
- Member of Technical Staff, Training Performance Engineer ↗
Cohere · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated
- Senior Software Engineer, GPU Infrastructure (HPC) ↗
Cohere · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated
- Staff Software Engineer, Inference Performance Optimization, GenAI, DeepMind ↗
Google DeepMind · ML systems and infrastructure · Bachelor's or equivalent
- Member of Technical Staff - GPU Infrastructure Engineer ↗
Liquid AI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated
- Member of Technical Staff - GPU Performance Engineer ↗
Liquid AI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated
- Research Scientist / Engineer – Performance Optimization ↗
Luma AI · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated · $195k to $395k base
- Member of Technical Staff, Kernels ↗
Magic · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $275k to $550k base
- Compiler Engineer, Graph Compiler Performance Optimization ↗
Meta (Superintelligence Labs and FAIR) · ML systems and infrastructure · PhD or equivalent experience
- IP Validation Engineer - Machine Learning Accelerators ↗
Meta (Superintelligence Labs and FAIR) · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated
- Software Engineer, AI Kernels & Performance Optimization — MTIA Software ↗
Meta (Superintelligence Labs and FAIR) · ML systems and infrastructure · Master's, PhD or equivalent
- Software Engineer, Systems ML - Frameworks / Compilers / DL-Kernels ↗
Meta (Superintelligence Labs and FAIR) · ML systems and infrastructure · PhD required
- ChatGPT Performance Engineer ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $347k to $445k base
- Operating Systems Engineer, Linux Kernel | Consumer Devices ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $230k to $385k base
- Software Engineer, Accelerators ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $295k to $380k base
- Software Engineer, AI accelerator Runtime ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $266k to $445k base
- Software Engineer, GPU Infrastructure - HPC ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $230k to $490k base
- Software Engineer, Inference - Performance Optimization ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $266k to $500k base
- Software Engineer, Kernel Performance & AI Tooling ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $266k to $445k base
- System Performance Engineer, Consumer Devices ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $347k to $385k base
- Training Performance Engineer ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $295k to $500k base
- Workload Porting & Performance Engineer ↗
OpenAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $347k to $445k base
- Member of Technical Staff (GPU Performance Engineer) ↗
Reka · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated
- Research Engineer, Infrastructure, Kernels ↗
Thinking Machines Lab · Research scientists and engineers · Bachelor's or equivalent · $350k to $475k base
- Research Engineer, Infrastructure, Numerics ↗
Thinking Machines Lab · Research scientists and engineers · Bachelor's or equivalent · $350k to $475k base
- Customer Success Engineer (CSE), GPU Cluster ↗
Together AI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated
- Systems Research Engineer Intern - GPU Programming (Summer 2027) ↗
Together AI · Fellowships, residencies and internships · No degree stated
- Systems Research Engineer Intern - GPU Programming (Winter 2027) ↗
Together AI · Fellowships, residencies and internships · No degree stated
- Systems Research Engineer, GPU Programming ↗
Together AI · Research scientists and engineers · Bachelor's degree · $200k to $300k base
- Technical Support Engineer (GPU Cluster), India ↗
Together AI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated
- Performance Engineer (Inference, Training & GPU) ↗
World Labs · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $200k to $300k base
- Software Engineer - Kernels/CUDA (C++) ↗
xAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $180k to $440k base
- Software Engineer - Linux Kernel (C++, C) ↗
xAI · ML systems and infrastructure · No degree stated · $180k to $440k base
