Software Engineer Jobs in Santa Clara, CA
Software Engineer jobs in Santa Clara are concentrated in the Central Expressway corridor, the Great America Parkway tech cluster, and the Mission College district, where semiconductor, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise software firms drive constant demand. Employers actively hiring include NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, and Qualcomm. Scan the live roles below and apply to whichever ones fit.
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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 858+ Software Engineer Jobs in Santa Clara
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Find Software Engineer JobsSoftware Engineer Job Market in Santa Clara
Who's Hiring
- NVIDIA266

- Palo Alto Networks97

- Qualcomm85

- PlusAI73

- Amazon60

Top Industries Hiring
- Law & Legal Services
- Technology & Software
Software Engineer Jobs in Santa Clara: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a software engineer job in Santa Clara?
Focus your search on the semiconductor, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise software companies clustered along Great America Parkway and the Central Expressway corridor. Roles in embedded systems, distributed systems, and silicon design are especially active in Santa Clara. Candidates who can demonstrate hands-on experience with the tech stacks common at chip and platform companies, and who engage with local networking events in the area, tend to stand out in this market.
Which companies hire software engineers in Santa Clara?
Employers hiring software engineers in Santa Clara right now include NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, and Qualcomm, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Santa Clara's employer base skews heavily toward established semiconductor manufacturers, hyperscaler infrastructure teams, and mid-size enterprise software firms, many of which maintain large engineering campuses in the city.
Are there remote software engineer jobs in Santa Clara?
Yes, though availability depends on the role. Software engineering is one of the more remote-friendly disciplines, but positions tied to hardware, silicon validation, or lab environments in Santa Clara typically require on-site presence. About 87% of software engineer openings tied to Santa Clara are remote or hybrid as of August 2026. Pure software roles at cloud and SaaS teams in the area tend to offer the most remote flexibility.
How can I get a software engineer job in Santa Clara with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path in Santa Clara is targeting associate or junior software engineer roles at mid-size enterprise software firms and the smaller fabless semiconductor startups in the Mission College and Bunker Hill districts, which tend to have more structured onboarding than the largest campus employers. Internship-to-hire pipelines at local chip and platform companies are common entry points, and proficiency in C, C++, or Python aligned to embedded or systems work gives candidates a concrete edge here.
Which industries hire the most software engineers in Santa Clara?
Most software engineer openings in Santa Clara sit in Law & Legal Services and Technology & Software, per current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Santa Clara's position as a global center for semiconductor design and cloud infrastructure means those sectors drive a disproportionately large share of local engineering demand compared with most other U.S. cities.
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