Senior Software Engineer, SambaNova Systems
Kernel & Device Drivers
$120-200k
+ Equity
Platform for artificial intelligence innovation
Open for applications
Platform for artificial intelligence innovation
201-500 employees
Open for applications
$120-200k
+ Equity
201-500 employees
Company mission
To accelerate the development and deployment of artificial intelligence for everyone.
Role
Who you are
- BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
- 5+ years of experience in kernel or low-level system software development Additional Required Qualifications
- Familiar with Linux kernel, drivers, user space libraries, and applications with strong Linux fundamentals
- Strong C/C++ programming and debugging skills; scripting experience (Python, shell)
- Experience with high-speed IO or interconnects such as PCIe, Ethernet, or similar technologies
- Experience with system bring-up and hardware-software co-debug
- Experience with manufacturing test flows
- Familiarity with development tools such as Git, Docker, Jenkins, or Bazel
- Familiarity with build systems and toolchains (GCC, LLVM, Make, CMake)
- Strong ownership and ability to drive issues to resolution
- Clear communicator with a collaborative, problem-solving mindset
Desirable
- Experience with PHY bring-up and initialization
- Ability to read and understand hardware specifications and register-level documentation
- Exposure to pre-silicon validation (FPGA, emulation) and post-silicon bring-up
- Familiarity with board schematics and low-level hardware interaction
- Solid debugging skills using logs, trace tools (GDB), JTAG, or hardware debuggers
- Background in high-performance or accelerator-based systems
What the job involves
- SambaNova is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to develop kernel-level drivers and low-level software for high-speed IO and memory subsystems within the DataScale® platform and RDU architecture
- You will enable system bring-up, debug complex cross-layer issues, and deliver production-quality software that scales across systems and deployments. Working across kernel, firmware, and hardware, you will build robust, maintainable drivers and frameworks supporting validation, manufacturing, and system performance
- This is a hands-on role for an engineer with strong low-level programming skills, solid hardware understanding, and a focus on reliability, performance, and code quality
- Develop and maintain kernel-space drivers for high-speed IO and memory subsystems
- Enable platform bring-up and support driver integration across new silicon and system configurations
- Write clean, maintainable, production-quality code and drive code reviews
- Support system bring-up from early silicon through production
- Debug complex issues across kernel, firmware, and hardware layers
- Drive issues to root cause and resolution in collaboration with cross-functional teams
- Support PHY initialization and validation across high-speed interfaces
- Debug issues related to IO, memory, and PHY subsystems in coordination with hardware teams
- Interpret hardware specifications and schematics to guide bring-up and debug Performance & Validation Software
- Develop tools and frameworks for performance analysis, validation, and manufacturing test
- Identify system bottlenecks and implement optimizations across driver and system layers
- Enable post-silicon validation through software automation and infrastructure
Our take
SambaNova Systems is a computing startup focused on building machine learning and big data analytics platforms. Its software-defined analytics platform enables optimum performance for any ML training, inference, or analytics models.
In 2021, SambaNova Systems became the best-funded AI systems and services platform startup in the world. Its total funding reached more than $1 billion and its valuation climbed to more than $5 billion. The company has received backing from the likes of BlackRock, Intel Capital, GV (formerly Google Ventures), among several others, and is expanding its offices in Palo Alto to accommodate this growth.
It's this support from premier investors in the industry that validates its mission to revolutionise the AI market by making it accessible to every organisation.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-12% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Feb 2026
$350m
SERIES E
Apr 2021
$650m
SERIES D
Total funding: $1.5bn
Company benefits
- Flexible PTO in US
- Parental Leave
- Benefits (medical, dental and vision)
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- 401k/Pensions
- Gym Access
- Flexible Working Hours
Company HQ
Palo Alto, CA
Leadership
Rodrigo Liang
(Co-Founder & CEO)They studied at Stanford before spending 7 years as a Hewlett-Packard Hardware Manager, and working as Director of Engineering at inSilicon and Afara Websystems. Having spent a combined 15 years as VP of Sun Microsystems and then Oracle Corporation, they co-founded SambaNova in November 2017.
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.
Share this job
View 13 more jobs at SambaNova Systems