A

AMD

Designs chips for computers and AI systems

GPU Performance Optimization Engineer Fellow

Full-TimeDeadline 3/27/27
No salary listed
Expert
PhD
San Jose, CA, USA
In Person
AI & Machine LearningApplied Machine Learning
No H1B Sponsorship

About the job

Requirements
  • Deep expertise in GPU architecture and performance characteristics, including compute units, memory hierarchy, and interconnects such as PCIe, Infinity Fabric, and RDMA.
  • Strong experience with performance profiling tools such as ROCm tools, Nsight-like systems, or custom profilers, and bottleneck analysis.
  • Proven experience optimizing large-scale distributed training workloads across thousands of GPUs.
  • Experience with distributed training frameworks such as Megatron-LM, Torchtitan, MaxText, or equivalent.
  • Strong understanding of communication libraries and patterns such as NCCL/RCCL, collective operations, and overlap of compute and communication.
  • Expertise in machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch, JAX, or TensorFlow, with a focus on performance tuning.
  • Proficiency in Python and at least one systems language (C++, CUDA, or HIP), including debugging and low-level optimization.
  • A Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience with significant technical impact.
Responsibilities
  • Lead performance optimization of large-scale AI training workloads on AMD GPU platforms across single-node and multi-node environments.
  • Identify and eliminate system bottlenecks across compute, memory, and communication, including kernel efficiency, memory bandwidth, and network utilization.
  • Optimize distributed training strategies, including data, tensor, and pipeline parallelism and ZeRO, for scalability and efficiency on AMD hardware.
  • Drive cross-stack optimizations spanning kernels, compilers, runtimes, communication libraries, and machine learning frameworks.
  • Develop and apply advanced profiling, benchmarking, and performance modeling methodologies.
  • Collaborate with hardware, compiler, and framework teams to influence next-generation GPU architecture and software stack design.
  • Contribute to and lead open-source efforts to improve ecosystem performance on AMD platforms.
  • Define best practices and guide teams on performance tuning for large-scale training workloads.
  • Stay at the forefront of advancements in large-scale training systems and performance optimization techniques.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience with compiler stacks, kernel optimization, or graph-level optimization.

About the company

AMD designs processors, graphics chips and AI accelerators for computer makers, cloud operators and businesses that build electronic devices. Its Ryzen processors power personal computers, while EPYC processors handle work in data centers and Radeon chips render graphics. Instinct accelerators run AI models, paired with software that developers use to train models and put them into production. AMD sells chips and related computing systems through equipment makers, distributors and retail channels, and contracts with outside foundries to fabricate its semiconductor designs. It was founded in 1969 and has its headquarters in Santa Clara, California.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Santa Clara, California

Founded

1969

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Data centers drive growth: AMD's revenue rose 50% to $11.5 billion in the June 2026 quarter.
  • US learning support is conditional: AMD reimburses up to $5,250 yearly for education, subject to manager approval and funding.
  • Planned demand has an anchor: AMD's July 2026 Anthropic deal targets up to two gigawatts of computing from 2027.

What critics are saying

  • Advanced chip supply relies on one foundry: TSMC makes all AMD processor and graphics wafers at 7nm or smaller.
  • Gaming is shrinking despite AI growth: AMD's gaming revenue fell 31% to $779 million in the June 2026 quarter.
  • Lab work limits location flexibility: AMD lists its Santa Clara optical-interconnect integration engineer role as on-site.

What makes AMD unique

  • Two console families use its designs: AMD designs custom processors for Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series.
  • Developers inspect its GPU software: AMD's ROCm stack is open source, while Nvidia's CUDA platform remains proprietary.
  • Chip circuitry stays adjustable: AMD sells adaptive processors whose hardware configuration changes after manufacture, without replacing the chip.

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Benefits

  • Hybrid Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-10%

1 year growth

3%

2 year growth

-1%
Yahoo Finance
Oct 19th, 2026
Nvidia spends $7.05B on R&D versus AMD's $2.53B, but a 20% rise hits AMD's profit far harder

Nvidia can absorb a bigger research budget far more easily than AMD, a comparison of their latest quarters shows. Nvidia spent $7.05 billion on research and development in its quarter ended July 26; AMD spent $2.53 billion in its quarter ended June 27. Research took 7.3% of Nvidia's $96.22 billion revenue, against 21.9% of AMD's $11.54 billion. A 20% rise in research spending, with all else fixed, would cost Nvidia $1.41 billion and cut its $63.73 billion operating income by 2.2%. For AMD, the $506 million cost would cut its $1.99 billion operating income by 25.4%. AMD could gain more operating leverage if adoption of its chips grows without equally fast expense growth.

Yahoo Finance
Oct 17th, 2026
Nvidia's data centres drive 92.5% of sales versus 58.1% at AMD, raising slowdown risk

Nvidia is far more exposed to a data-center slowdown than AMD, based on reported sales mix. Data centers made up about 92.5% of Nvidia's $96.221 billion quarterly revenue (quarter ended July 26), against 58.1% of AMD's $11.536 billion (quarter ended June 27). A 10% drop in data-center sales would cut Nvidia's total revenue by about 9.25% and AMD's by 5.8%. At a 20% drop, the cuts would be 18.5% and 11.6%. AMD's other units offer no sure cushion. Gaming revenue fell 31% year on year in the June quarter, while client revenue rose 23% and embedded revenue rose 19%. Valuation also differs. Trailing free-cash-flow multiples were near 41 for Nvidia and 106 for AMD as of October 16.

Yahoo Finance
Oct 17th, 2026
AMD's 160% surge in 2026 looks overvalued as Nvidia's lead widens

AMD shares have returned about 160% this year, making the chip designer the S&P 500's ninth-best performer. The gain was closer to 200% before a recent sell-off. The author argues the stock's valuation far outpaces its growth. In Q2, AMD's revenue rose 50% year over year to $11.5 billion, and its data center revenue grew 107% to $6.7 billion. Nvidia did better. Its revenue rose 106% to $96.2 billion, and its data center revenue climbed 117% to $89 billion, so its lead is widening. The author sees a fair forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 30 for both stocks. Even on 2027 earnings, AMD sits above that, while Nvidia trades at about half AMD's price. The author suggests taking AMD gains and moving them into Nvidia.

Yahoo Finance
Oct 16th, 2026
AMD stock up 157.8% in a year, with net cash at $8.84B but capex now above depreciation

AMD shares returned 157.8% over the past year, against 17.9% for the S&P 500. The company's balance sheet looks mostly safer, though it is spending more on assets. Cash and short-term investments reached $13.1 billion at the end of the quarter on June 27, 2026, up from $5.87 billion a year earlier. Total debt rose to $4.28 billion from $3.89 billion, leaving net cash of $8.84 billion. Capital spending over the past twelve months was $1.68 billion, above the $1.17 billion depreciation and amortisation charge. That breaks a pattern seen at each of the previous 16 quarter ends. Management said server chip demand was largely unforecasted. Data center revenue grew 107% to $6.7 billion in fiscal Q2 2026, and free cash flow was $1.56 billion.

Yahoo Finance
Oct 15th, 2026
Chip stocks extend rout as AI debt fears grow; CoreWeave bond yields near 15%

Chip stocks extended their slide on Thursday as worries grew over mounting debt and rising financing costs for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Nvidia fell over 2% and Advanced Micro Devices dropped 4%, while Micron Technology and SanDisk slipped about 4% and 6%. The selloff came even as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reported third-quarter revenue up 51% to NT$1.49 trillion, beating forecasts. It expects fourth-quarter revenue to rise up to 61% from a year earlier. Saxo Bank's chief investment strategist, Charu Chanana, said there was no clear evidence of a systemic AI credit crisis. She warned, however, that financing strain could hit chip suppliers if operators cut spending. Yields on some CoreWeave bonds have neared 15%, which she said suggests investors are less willing to fund AI growth at any cost.