Senior Software Engineer - Inference Backend

Senior Software Engineer - Inference Backend

Build and optimize a distributed inference backend to support real-time AI model deployment at scale

Location: San Francisco, California, United States

Compensation: $325,000 - 490,000 USD / year

Job Tags: Software

About The Role

In 2012, Lambda started with a crew of AI engineers publishing research at top machine-learning conferences. We began as an AI company built by AI engineers. That hasn't changed. Today, we're on a mission to be the world's top AI computing platform. We equip engineers with the tools to deploy AI that is fast, secure, affordable, and built to scale. Whether they need powerhouse GPU hardware on-site or the flexibility of cloud-based solutions, we've got the horsepower to make it happen. Lambda’s AI Cloud has been adopted by the world’s leading companies and research institutions including Anyscale, Rakuten, The AI Institute, and multiple enterprises with over a trillion dollars of market capitalization. Our goal is to make computation as effortless and ubiquitous as electricity.

If you'd like to build the world's best deep learning cloud, join us.

Note: This position requires presence in our San Francisco office location 4 days per week; Lambda’s designated work from home day is currently Tuesday.

What You’ll Do

• Work on our Inference service, helping us to develop our large-scale platform for running new, cutting-edge models across tens of thousands of GPUs
• Help build a high-throughput, low-latency API and routing system running at geographically-distributed scale
• Work with the team and our internal ML researchers to adopt and improve new inference engines, models and architectures across a variety of different mediums (such as text, image, video and audio)
• Shape a highly reliable distributed system with a focus on reducing operational overhead and deep observability and capacity management.
• Help push Lambda forward into the state of the art, and be part of a team that is operating right at the edge of new developments in the industry.

You

• 5 or more years of experience as a software engineer working on large-scale production services
• 1 year or more of experience working with machine learning (inference experience preferred, but other areas are acceptable)
• Highly skilled at writing Go or Python
• Product-focused engineer, always considering the user and operational costs as you are exploring new
• Proven track record of working in an environment with rapid deployment and the ability to stay on top of shifting priorities as the industry rapidly develops
• Willingness to take ownership of projects and help drive them forwards through design, implementation, launch, and maintenance.
• Some experience running and operating production services handling real-time web/internet traffic

Nice to Have

• Have built ML inference systems at scale
• Experience developing large-scale, geographically distributed systems
• Intermediate or better skill at writing Rust
• Experience developing Kubernetes operators and components
• Network engineering experience

If you don’t meet all of these requirements but believe you may be a good fit, please still apply and provide a cover letter that helps us understand your experience and readiness for this role.

Salary Range Information

Based on market data and other factors, the annual salary range for this position is $325,000 - $490,000. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.

About Lambda

• Founded in 2012, ~350 employees (2024) and growing fast
• We offer generous cash & equity compensation
• Our investors include Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, US Innovative Technology, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, Crescent Cove.
• We are experiencing extremely high demand for our systems, with quarter over quarter, year over year profitability
• Research papers have been accepted into top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOG
• Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents
• Commuter/Work from home stipends for select roles
• 401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees)
• Flexible Paid Time Off Plan that we all actually use

A Final Note

You do not need to match all of the listed expectations to apply for this position. We are committed to building a team with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lambda is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.