GenAI Performance Engineer

About the role:

ML developers today face significant friction in taking trained models into deployment. They work in a highly fragmented space, with incomplete and patchwork solutions that require significant performance tuning and non-generalizable/ model-specific enhancements. At Modular, we are building the next generation AI platform that will radically improve the way developers build and deploy AI models.

A core part of this offering is providing a platform that allows customers to achieve state-of-the-art performance across use cases, model families, and hardware. As an GenAI Performance Engineer, you will join a small team of generalist engineers that optimize the performance of Modular’s MAX product in both breadth and depth. As part of deep dives on high-value models, you will collaborate with Kernel, Graph Compiler, and Cloud engineers to push Modular’s cutting-edge performance even further. Simultaneously, the performance team builds and applies performance analysis tooling to study and optimize the performance of MAX Engine and MAX Serve over a vast array of user configurations on a wide variety of CPU, GPU and Accelerator hardware.

LOCATION: Candidates based in the US or Canada are welcome to apply. You can work in our office in Los Altos, CA or remotely from home. Onboarding for new hires is conducted in-person in our Los Altos, CA office.

What you will do:

• Measure, analyze, and identify opportunities to improve the performance of the MAX product under realistic and relevant usage patterns
• Partner with the product and customer teams to understand the performance of the MAX product in both standard and cutting edge AI applications and design benchmarks to reflect them
• Collaborate with the kernels and GenAI modeling team to bring up new model families
• Collaborate with the kernels and runtime team to bring up and optimize new GPUs and accelerators
• Collaborate with the cloud team to design and benchmark advanced serving features and new serving algorithms
• Build statistical models and tools to operate on benchmarking & telemetry data and help develop key insights for performance, cloud costs, etc.

What you bring to the table:

• 5+ years of professional or postgraduate academic experience working on or researching performance analysis, tooling or benchmarking
• Expertise in performance measurement (i.e. benchmarking), modeling, and analysis on real-world workloads
• Extensive experience with Python
• Creativity and curiosity for solving complex problems
• Experience writing production-quality software
• Strong written and verbal communication skills

What Modular brings to the table:

• Amazing Team. We are a progressive and agile team with some of the industry’s best engineering and product leaders.
• World-class Benefits. In order to attract the best, we need to offer the best. Premier insurance plans, up to 5% 401k matching, flexible paid time off, and more are available to you! Please note that specific benefit packages may vary based on your location.
• Competitive Compensation. We offer very strong compensation packages, including stock options. We want people to be focused on their best work and believe in tailoring compensation plans to meet the needs of our workforce. 
• Team Building Events. We organize regular team onsites and local meetups in Los Altos, CA as well as different cities. Traveling 2-4 times a year is expected for all roles. 

Working at Modular will enable you to grow quickly as you work alongside incredibly motivated and talented people who have high standards, possess a growth mindset, and a purpose to truly change the world.

The estimated base salary range for this role to be performed in the US, regardless of the state, is $167,000.00 - $286,000.00 USD. 
The estimated base salary range for this role to be performed in Canada, regardless of the province, is $164,000.00 - $280,000.00 CAD.
The salary for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of permissible, non-discriminatory job-related factors, which include but are not limited to education, training, work experience, business needs, or market demands. This range may be modified in the future. The total compensation for a candidate will also include annual target bonus, equity, and benefits, with equity making up a significant portion of your total compensation.

For candidates who fall outside of the listed requirements, we nevertheless encourage you to apply as we may have openings that are lower/higher level than the ones advertised.