Senior Software Development Engineer Jobs in Santa Clara, CA
Senior Software Development Engineer jobs in Santa Clara are concentrated in the Central Expressway corridor, the Mission College district, and the greater Lawrence Expressway area, with demand driven by semiconductor, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise software companies. Employers hiring right now include NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, and Qualcomm. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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We are now looking for a Senior Software Engineer for Agent Simulation & Evaluation! Today, NVIDIA is tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPUs act 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, encouraging environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work.
Demand for inference is growing rapidly, driven by reasoning models, coding agents, parallel subagents, and long-horizon tool use. These workloads are increasing the complexity of how AI systems must be evaluated, simulated, and optimized across different accelerator platforms. We are looking for an AI-native engineer who can combine a strong understanding of model architectures with performance analysis across GPU and LPU systems. You will use agentic methods to streamline simulation, evaluation, and critical engineering workflows for the LPU organization, helping NVIDIA develop a deeper understanding of emerging AI workloads and how they map to future hardware.
What you will be doing:
Building agentic systems that automate simulation, evaluation, performance analysis, and reporting.
Developing tools that configure experiments, run evaluations, analyze results, identify regressions, and recommend follow-up work.
Analyzing the inference characteristics of LLMs, reasoning models, coding agents, multimodal models, and agentic harnesses.
Building and validating performance models for GPU, LPU, and heterogeneous GPU–LPU systems.
Collaborating with inference, hardware, runtime, compiler, evaluation, and product teams to improve simulation quality and accelerate engineering decisions.
Automating critical LPU workflows such as benchmarking, workload characterization, capacity planning, and release qualification.
What we need to see:
Strong experience building AI agents or AI-backed engineering systems.
Familiarity with modern model architectures and AI inference workloads.
Experience evaluating AI models or agents and analyzing performance.
Experience with simulation, profiling, benchmarking, or performance modelling.
Strong Python skills and experience building reliable engineering tools.
MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
5+ years of relevant software development experience.
2 years of experience building AI agents or building AI-backed engineering systems.
Ways to stand out from the crowd:
Experience using coding agents such as Codex, Claude Code, or similar tools to automate technical workflows.
Knowledge of GPU or accelerator architecture, distributed inference, or high-performance computing.
Open-source projects demonstrating agentic AI, evaluation, or performance-engineering applications.
A rigorous analytical approach to experimentation, data collection, and validation.
NVIDIA is widely considered one of the technology world’s most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and hardworking people in the world working for us. If you’re creative, analytical, 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 152,000 USD - 241,500 USD for Level 3, and 184,000 USD - 287,500 USD for Level 4.You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.
This posting is for an existing vacancy.
NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.
NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive 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.See All 774+ Senior Software Development Engineer Jobs in Santa Clara
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Find JobsSenior Software Development Engineer Job Market in Santa Clara
Who's Hiring
- NVIDIA441

- Palo Alto Networks63

- Qualcomm36

- ServiceNow36

- Siemens27

Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software99
- Law & Legal Services18
- Electronics & Hardware18
- Artificial Intelligence18
- Agriculture & Farming9
Senior Software Development Engineer Jobs in Santa Clara: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a senior software development engineer job in Santa Clara?
The strongest path is targeting Santa Clara's semiconductor, cloud platform, and enterprise networking companies, which cluster around the Central Expressway corridor and Mission College district. Employers here prioritize depth in systems programming, distributed systems, or hardware-adjacent software. Candidates who can show shipped product experience at scale, contributions to relevant open-source projects, or familiarity with the silicon-to-software stack get noticed faster in this market than those with generalist backgrounds.
Which companies hire senior software development engineers in Santa Clara?
Santa Clara senior software development engineer roles are posted by NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, and Qualcomm and others right now, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. The city is home to a dense mix of chip manufacturers, networking hardware firms, and cloud infrastructure companies, so the employer landscape skews heavily toward deep-tech and platform-layer engineering.
Are there remote senior software development engineer jobs in Santa Clara?
Yes, though availability varies by team and product area. About 62% of senior software development engineer openings tied to Santa Clara are remote or hybrid as of August 2026, reflecting how much of the role involves code review, architecture work, and cross-team collaboration that translates well to distributed settings. Hardware-integrated or embedded development roles at Santa Clara firms tend to require more on-site presence than pure cloud or application-layer positions.
How can I get a senior software development engineer job in Santa Clara with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path for candidates without senior-level experience is targeting associate or mid-level software engineer roles at Santa Clara's networking, semiconductor, or cloud infrastructure companies, then building upward. Many firms in the area run rotational engineering programs or hire heavily from internship pipelines tied to nearby universities. Demonstrating low-level systems knowledge, a strong public portfolio, or contributions to infrastructure tooling gives candidates a concrete edge with Santa Clara's deeply technical hiring teams.
Which industries hire the most senior software development engineers in Santa Clara?
Santa Clara senior software development engineer roles concentrate in Technology & Software, Law & Legal Services, and Electronics & Hardware, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Santa Clara's identity as a hub for semiconductor design, network hardware, and cloud infrastructure pulls engineering talent toward the platform and systems layers of the stack, making it one of the most technically specialized hiring markets in the country.
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