Senior System Software Engineer - Autonomous Vehicles - CA, Santa Clara, United States
$184,000 - $356,500 USD yearly
Originally posted 29 August 2026 by the employer. Relisted by the employer on 30 August 2026.
Build the NVIDIA DriveWorks SDK focused on sensor drivers, data streaming, and vehicle interface abstraction.
About the role
The Autonomous Vehicles Platform team is looking for a Senior System Software Engineer to build the NVIDIA DriveWorks SDK. The role focuses on core technology around sensor drivers and interfaces, data streaming, data recording and playback, and vehicle interface abstraction.
What you'll do
- Create and optimize software architecture and frameworks for real-world performance while matching or exceeding customer requirements. - Develop sensor drivers, plug-ins, and processing functions around sensor data, working with vendors developing vehicle sensors. - Create sensor data recording, playback, and visualization tools, perform in-vehicle tests, and analyze data integrity. - Work with car and control teams to develop vehicle interfaces to enable self-driving, and support data collection campaigns. - Develop unit tests, feature documentation, evaluate quality, and propose corrective actions. - Write product code in C++, make use of algorithmic parallelism with GPGPU programming (CUDA), and follow quality and safety standards such as MISRA.
What you'll need
- BS/MS in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent experience). - 8+ years of experience developing and debugging multithreaded/distributed applications such as multimedia systems or game engines. - C and C++ programming skills, with strong knowledge of programming and debugging techniques for parallel and distributed architectures. - Background in Linux, Android, and/or other real-time operating systems. - Experience with sensors such as cameras, LiDAR, radar, ultrasonics, IMU, and GPS. - Experience with vehicle control interfaces and writing low latency, highly performant code.
Skills: sensor drivers, C++, Linux, real-time operating systems, GPGPU programming, CUDA
This role has been open 180 days — well above the 55-day median for Embedded Firmware Engineering roles.
Embedded Firmware Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
764
|
Median days open
55 d
|
Median salary
$169k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | NVIDIA | All employers we track in this specialty (764 roles · 84 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 60 | 764 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 997 | 6277 · 144 employers |
| Median days open | 58 d | 55 d (+3 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $169k |
Skills observed across this category: sensor drivers, C++, Linux, real-time operating systems, GPGPU programming, CUDA
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 126 open roles · median 54 d
- Micron Technology · 65 open roles · median 88 d
- AMD · 63 open roles · median 40 d
- NVIDIA (this employer) · 60 open roles · median 58 d
- Lattice Semiconductor · 45 open roles · median 45 d
- NXP Semiconductors · 36 open roles · median 32 d
How we counted: 764 open Embedded Firmware Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 84 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 25 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.