Founding Compiler Engineer
Luminal
Founding Compiler Engineer
Luminal
Serverless AI deployment with GPU kernels
Luminal optimizes AI models to accelerate and simplify model deployment using a search-based compiler.
The AI stack needs to be rethought from the ground up to achieve this. As demand for inference grows, teams will need to run models across a wider range of hardware, not just the platforms with the most mature software support. Luminal makes AI workloads faster, more portable, and easier to deploy by automatically optimizing models for the ideal hardware. Our mission is to make state-of-the-art AI production-ready on any compute platform. We have already closed multiple contracts with non-Nvidia hardware platforms.
Luminal is backed by Y Combinator and Felicis as well as top-tier angels such as Paul Graham (founder of Y Combinator), Guillermo Rauch (founder of Vercel) and many others.
Design and build core compiler infrastructure in Rust
Build search-based optimization systems for discovering faster kernels
Develop backend code generation for multiple targets (NVIDIA, Trainium, AMD, TPU, etc.)
Implement compiler passes for fusion, scheduling, memory planning, and kernel selection
Profile real models, identify bottlenecks, and improve latency and throughput
Help shape Luminal’s engineering culture from the ground up
Experience with compiler frameworks: LLVM, MLIR, or other custom compilers
Hands-on experience with at least one of: PTX/SASS, GCN/RDNA assembly, or other GPU ISAs
Familiarity with ML compilers: torch.compile (or custom PyTorch backend), XLA, TVM, etc.
Background in distributed systems or multi-device compilation
Experience with Egg/Egglog is a STRONG plus
Experience with Rust
Experience in developing and deploying AI models in production environments
This is a full-time on-site role for a Founding Compiler Engineer located in downtown San Francisco. You will be responsible for assisting the design of the core compiler. Day-to-day tasks will include writing CUDA kernels, conducting model performance reviews, and shitposting on social media.
San Francisco, CA, US · Full-time · On-site. Annual base salary: $200,000–$350,000 USD. Equity: 0.5%–2%. Visa: Will sponsor.
Luminal provides a serverless cloud platform for deploying AI models with greater speed and reliability. Its main offering is an open-source machine learning compiler that automatically translates PyTorch models into optimized GPU kernels (e.g., Flash Attention) without manual tuning, working directly with CUDA and Metal through Rust. The platform offers features like auto-scaling, auto-batching, and on-demand weight streaming to handle varying traffic and minimize idle GPU time, acting as a drop-in upgrade to PyTorch to simplify production deployment. Differences from competitors include an end-to-end compiler-driven path that generates high-performance GPU code without extra engineering and a focus on compute-lean, low-overhead deployment in a serverless framework. Luminal aims to make it easier and cheaper to move AI models from research to production by reducing the engineering burden and speeding up inference, with YC-backed funding and a San Francisco base.
Explore more opportunities at Luminal