Principal Software Engineer

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. It’s a unique legacy of innovation that’s fueled by great technology—and amazing people. 

Today, we’re tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what’s never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world’s best talent. As an NVIDIAN, you’ll be immersed in a diverse, supportive environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work. Come join the team and see how you can make a lasting impact on the world. We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our Software Infrastructure team in Santa Clara, CA. This role blends large-scale database transformation with the design and development of GPU-accelerated platforms. You’ll create the software systems, automation frameworks, and high-performance database services that power NVIDIA’s AI workloads at scale.

What you'll be doing:

• 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 directly 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.

What we need to see:

• 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 from the crowd:

• 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.

NVIDIA is widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and passionate people on the planet working for us. If you're creative and autonomous, we want to hear from you!

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 248,000 USD - 391,000 USD.Applications for this job will be accepted at least until October 19, 2025.NVIDIA is committed to fostering a diverse work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) 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.