Hpc Engineer Jobs in California
Hpc Engineer jobs in California sit at the center of one of the most active high-performance computing markets in the country, with demand concentrated in national laboratories, defense contractors, semiconductor firms, and research universities at every level from entry-level systems associate through senior principal engineer. The heaviest hiring is in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and the Los Angeles metro, where employers such as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Qualcomm, and Northrop Grumman maintain long-standing hpc programs. The most in-demand specialties are parallel computing, GPU-accelerated workloads, and large-scale cluster administration. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Showing 5 of 26+ Hpc Engineer jobs
Key Responsibilities
- Execute and coordinate rack-level deployment of compute, network, and storage infrastructure for AI and HPC environments.
- Validate rack elevations, port maps, cable maps, power distribution, labeling, and physical connectivity before cluster handoff.
- Perform detailed cable validation across Ethernet, InfiniBand, management, and storage interconnects.
- Detect and resolve cabling defects including polarity issues, incorrect port destinations, unsupported optics pairings, breakout errors, damaged media, and inconsistent labeling.
- Support hardware bring-up by validating BIOS baselines, BMC reachability, inventory accuracy, and initial connectivity tests.
- Partner with network and Linux teams during cluster turn-up to quickly isolate physical-layer versus logical-layer failures.
- Create deployment checklists, as-built documentation, and signoff criteria for production acceptance.
- Drive structured remediation during expansion, re-cabling, or failed build events.
Required Qualifications
- 7+ years in data center deployment, HPC infrastructure installation, or large-scale hardware integration.
- Strong practical knowledge of structured cabling, optics, transceivers, breakout schemes, and rack-level physical validation.
- Experience reading and validating rack diagrams, patch plans, cable matrices, and topology documentation.
- Strong troubleshooting skill for Layer 1 issues that manifest as network instability, missing hosts, degraded performance, or failed cluster readiness checks.
- Experience with asset tracking, labeling discipline, and deployment quality control.
- Ability to work across physical infrastructure, server hardware, and network operations teams without losing detail.
Pay: $90.00 - $95.00 per hour
Experience:
- HPC: 6 years (Required)
- data center: 8 years (Required)
Willingness to travel:
- 25% (Required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Santa Clara, CA 95051
Key Responsibilities
- Execute and coordinate rack-level deployment of compute, network, and storage infrastructure for AI and HPC environments.
- Validate rack elevations, port maps, cable maps, power distribution, labeling, and physical connectivity before cluster handoff.
- Perform detailed cable validation across Ethernet, InfiniBand, management, and storage interconnects.
- Detect and resolve cabling defects including polarity issues, incorrect port destinations, unsupported optics pairings, breakout errors, damaged media, and inconsistent labeling.
- Support hardware bring-up by validating BIOS baselines, BMC reachability, inventory accuracy, and initial connectivity tests.
- Partner with network and Linux teams during cluster turn-up to quickly isolate physical-layer versus logical-layer failures.
- Create deployment checklists, as-built documentation, and signoff criteria for production acceptance.
- Drive structured remediation during expansion, re-cabling, or failed build events.
Required Qualifications
- 7+ years in data center deployment, HPC infrastructure installation, or large-scale hardware integration.
- Strong practical knowledge of structured cabling, optics, transceivers, breakout schemes, and rack-level physical validation.
- Experience reading and validating rack diagrams, patch plans, cable matrices, and topology documentation.
- Strong troubleshooting skill for Layer 1 issues that manifest as network instability, missing hosts, degraded performance, or failed cluster readiness checks.
- Experience with asset tracking, labeling discipline, and deployment quality control.
- Ability to work across physical infrastructure, server hardware, and network operations teams without losing detail.
Pay: $90.00 - $95.00 per hour
Experience:
- HPC: 6 years (Required)
- data center: 8 years (Required)
Willingness to travel:
- 25% (Required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Santa Clara, CA 95051
See All 26 Hpc Engineer Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Hpc Engineer JobsHpc Engineer Jobs by City in California
Where California roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Hpc Engineer Job Market in California
A snapshot from current California openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Manufacturing
- Technology & Software
- Science & Research
- Education
- Electronics & Hardware
What California Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in hpc engineer jobs across California.
- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or a related technical field
- Hands-on experience designing or administering large-scale HPC clusters and parallel file systems
- Proficiency in parallel programming models such as MPI, OpenMP, or CUDA
- Familiarity with job schedulers including Slurm, PBS, or equivalent workload management tools
- Experience with Linux system administration and high-speed interconnects like InfiniBand or Omni-Path
- Strong scripting ability in Python, Bash, or similar languages for automation and performance tuning
Hpc Engineer Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a hpc engineer in California?
Most hpc engineer roles in California require at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or a closely related field, with many research and national laboratory positions preferring a master's or doctorate. California does not issue a state license specifically for hpc engineers, so the hiring path centers on building hands-on cluster experience, earning vendor certifications in platforms like NVIDIA or Red Hat, and assembling a portfolio of parallel computing or large-scale systems projects that California employers can evaluate directly.
How much do hpc engineers make in California?
Hpc engineers in California earn a median of about $185,180 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $126,590 for the lowest 10% to over $281,210 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire hpc engineers in California?
Employers hiring hpc engineers in California right now include KLA, NVIDIA, and TSMC, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. California's concentration of national laboratories, defense primes, and semiconductor companies means openings appear across both government-funded research sites and private industry campuses throughout the state.
Which California cities have the most hpc engineer jobs?
Milpitas, Santa Clara, and San Francisco account for the largest share of hpc engineer openings in California. The Bay Area leads because of its density of national laboratories and technology headquarters, San Diego draws hiring through defense contractors and genomics research institutions, and Los Angeles reflects demand from aerospace and entertainment technology companies running large compute environments.
Are there remote hpc engineer jobs in California?
Yes, but they're uncommon, because much of the work requires direct access to physical clusters, specialized hardware, and secure on-site environments. About 38% of hpc engineer openings tied to California are remote or hybrid as of August 2026, which is lower than typical software roles. The tasks most likely to be performed remotely are software development, job scheduler configuration, and performance analysis that do not require hands-on hardware access.
How can I get hired as a hpc engineer in California with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is through a research computing internship or student cluster operator role at one of California's university systems, where the University of California campuses and California State University campuses regularly bring on junior staff to support research computing infrastructure. Adjacent roles such as Linux systems administrator, research computing support specialist, and data center technician provide hands-on exposure that California employers recognize as a credible bridge. Completing a parallel computing project on a public cloud HPC environment and earning a Red Hat or NVIDIA certification strengthens a candidate's profile considerably for first roles.
Where can I find and apply to hpc engineer jobs in California?
You can find and apply to hpc engineer jobs in California on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings tied to California locations. Search the listings for roles that match your experience level and specialization, then apply directly to the ones that fit.
See All 26 Hpc Engineer Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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