Six Figure Work

Senior CPU Performance Architect

NVIDIA

Company websitenvidia.com (NVIDIA, opens in new tab)

Base salary $224,000  to $431,250

Employer-published annual base salary, USD. Advertised base range in Santa Clara, CA +2 more

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  • LocationSanta Clara, CA +2 more
  • WorkplaceWorkplace not stated
  • Status at last checkSource accepting applications when checked
  • Last checked (5 min ago) · observed since
All places named
  • Santa Clara, CA
  • Austin, TX
  • Hillsboro, OR

About this job

Do you want to help drive the development of CPU technology for architectures used for artificial intelligence (AI) / deep learning (DL), high-performance computing (HPC), cloud service providers (CSP), gaming, virtual reality, and autonomous vehicles? Come join the CPU performance architecture team and help us push performance boundaries for all our CPU products!

What you'll be doing:

  • Work on workload bring-up and performance analysis/projection, both on silicon and full-system simulator.

  • Study workloads for a wide range of markets, including AI/DL, CSP, HPC, and autonomous vehicles.

  • Study real world use-cases and identify critical application behavior and reduce to directed test cases.

  • Analyze and debug performance scaling bottlenecks on multi-core and multi-socket CPU and CPU/GPU systems.

  • Work with CPU and interconnect architects to improve future CPU and system designs based on your findings.

  • Benchmark NVIDIA’s CPU offerings against competition and suggest software or hardware improvements.

What we need to see:

  • BS/MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.

  • 12+ years of relevant experience.

  • Experience with CPU workloads and performance analysis.

  • Knowledge of performance test development and benchmarking for CPU and I/O.

  • Deep knowledge of CPU microarchitecture and system architecture.

  • Experience with the ARM instruction set architecture (ISA) preferable but not required.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

  • PhD or Research experience.

  • GPU driver experience.

  • Knowledge of GPU-accelerated workloads and modeling performance of accelerated workloads.

  • Experience with performance optimization of AI frameworks such as PyTorch.

NVIDIA is a global leader in accelerated computing, delivering breakthroughs in AI, HPC, and advanced system design. Our technologies power transformative applications across industries — from robotics and autonomous vehicles to healthcare and climate research. With the introduction of the Grace CPU Superchip, and more recently, the announcement of the Vera CPU, NVIDIA has expanded into the CPU server market, complementing our world-class GPUs and SoCs. These CPUs play a critical role in orchestrating complex workloads with exceptional performance-per-watt efficiency. The CPU architecture team is driving innovations that integrate seamlessly with NVIDIA’s broader technology stack, enabling faster AI model training, agentic use-cases, efficient data processing, and scalable cloud deployments.

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and other objective job-related factors. The expected base salary ranges for this position are:
224,000 USD – 356,500 USD for Level 5; and 272,000 USD – 431,250 USD for Level 6.

You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until November 3, 2026.

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.

Source: NVIDIA on Workday · View original posting (opens in new tab)

This range next to 6 other live NVIDIA roles with the nearest advertised base floor
Chart as a table
This range next to 6 other live NVIDIA roles with the nearest advertised base floor
RolePublished base
Senior CPU Performance Architect (this listing)$224,000 - $431,250
Senior Full-Stack Lead Engineer$224,000 - $356,500
Senior Developer Relations Manager, Data Platforms$224,000 - $431,250
Senior Developer Relations Lead, AI-Enabled Drug Discovery Science$224,000 - $431,250
Manager, Solutions Architecture - AI Infrastructure Build Readiness$224,000 - $356,500
Senior Research Engineer - AI Coding Tools$224,000 - $431,250
Senior Retail Developer Relations Manager, Digital Commerce$224,000 - $431,250

Same $100K to $400K scale as every card. All NVIDIA roles · How to read the bar

Observed changes

  1. First observed on the employer's board
  2. Began meeting the published-salary criteria
Observed since
Employer-stated posting date
2026-10-30
Where this pay comes from

Location as the employer wrote it: US, CA, Santa Clara • US, TX, Austin • US, OR, Hillsboro (Levels 5-6 combined)

224,000 USD – 356,500 USD for Level 5; and 272,000 USD – 431,250 USD for Level 6.

Method
Employer text, read with fixed rules and re-verified
Checked
Rule set
us-base-v2

The pay passage appears in the employer's own job text. Fixed, deterministic rules located it, and the passage below was checked against the stored copy of the posting.

What we verified

  • The pay figures come from the employer's own listing, quoted exactly above.
  • The pay is an annual base salary in US dollars with a minimum of at least $100,000.
  • The role was publicly listed on the employer's job board when last checked.

We do not verify what the employer will actually offer, whether the employer is still recruiting for the role, or anything beyond what the employer published. Full methodology.