Lambda

Staff HPC Systems Architect

Lambda$150K — $180K *
Information Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 7+ years of experience in architecting large-scale GPU HPC or cloud compute platforms.
  • Deep knowledge of CPU/GPU architectures and memory hierarchies.
  • Experience with high-bandwidth, low-latency fabric design (e.g., NVLink, InfiniBand).
  • Strong understanding of resource scheduling and thermal/power optimization.
  • Ability to work across hardware and software boundaries effectively.
  • Analytical skills with capability to influence technical strategy across teams.
  • Self-starter with a strong ownership mentality.

Responsibilities

  • Architect scalable compute platforms for AI/ML and high-throughput workloads.
  • Develop standards and design patterns for system performance and maintainability.
  • Evaluate emerging technologies and make architectural tradeoff decisions.
  • Collaborate with teams to align workload needs with compute capabilities.
  • Translate ambiguous requirements into measurable technical specifications.
  • Define roadmaps and reference designs for compute platforms.
  • Act as a technical lead during new platform introductions, overseeing validation efforts.

Benefits

  • Generous cash and equity compensation.
  • Health, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents.
  • Wellness and commuter stipends for select roles.
  • 401k Plan with 2% company match for USA employees.
  • Flexible paid time off plan that encourages actual usage.
Full Job Description


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

What You'll Do
  • Architect and define scalable compute platforms optimized for AI/ML, simulation, and high-throughput workloads.
  • Develop compute system standards and design patterns to ensure consistency, performance, and maintainability across infrastructure.
  • Evaluate emerging CPU, GPU, and accelerator technologies, owning architectural tradeoff decisions that impact compute density, power, cooling, and total cost.
  • Collaborate with product and engineering teams to map workload requirements to compute platform capabilities across bare metal and cloud deployments.
  • Experience converting ambiguous business or customer needs into measurable platform requirements, technical specifications, acceptance criteria, and architecture decisions.
  • Define compute platform roadmaps and architectural reference designs that guide hardware selection, firmware baselines, rack-level, and cluster design.
  • Act as a technical lead during new platform introductions, guiding validation and performance characterization efforts.
  • Mentor systems engineers and cross-functional stakeholders on compute performance tuning, sizing, and architectural decisions.

You
  • Proven experience (7+ years) architecting large-scale 10k-100k+ GPU HPC or cloud compute platforms.
  • Deep knowledge of CPU/GPU architectures, memory hierarchies, and accelerator topologies.
  • Experience designing systems around high-bandwidth, low-latency fabrics (NVLink, InfiniBand, and RoCE).
  • Strong understanding of system performance tuning, resource scheduling, thermal and power optimization, and compute lifecycle management.
  • Comfortable working across hardware and software boundaries, especially at the intersection of compute architecture, OS behavior, and orchestration layers.
  • Skilled at balancing architectural tradeoffs for density, power efficiency, cooling, and performance.
  • Strong analytical and communication skills, with a track record of influencing technical strategy across teams.
  • Strong ownership and can do attitude, self-starter who feels comfortable working in ambiguity.

Nice to Have
  • Hands-on experience with AI/ML workloads and their compute performance characteristics.
  • Familiarity with orchestration tools used in HPC. (Slurm, Kubernetes, etc)
  • Experience with virtualization technologies, specifically GPU virtualization.
  • Exposure to hardware validation, vendor collaboration, and long-term OEM roadmap alignment.
  • Background in compute telemetry, real-time performance profiling, or large-scale A/B infrastructure testing.

Salary Range Information

The annual salary range for this position has been set based on market data and other factors. 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.

  • Founded in 2012, with 500+ employees, and growing fast
  • Our investors notably include TWG Global, US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, and Crescent Cove
  • We have research papers accepted at top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOG
  • Our values are publicly available: https://lambda.ai/careers
  • We offer generous cash & equity compensation
  • Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents
  • Wellness and commuter stipends for select roles
  • 401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees)
  • Flexible paid time off plan that we all actually use

About Lambda

Lambda is an online education company that offers courses in computer science and software engineering. The company was founded in 2017 by Austen Allred and Ben Nelson. Lambda's courses are designed to be accessible to anyone, regardless of their background or prior experience. The company's mission is to provide high-quality education that leads to well-paying jobs in the tech industry. Lambda has partnerships with a number of companies, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, and has helped thousands of students launch careers in tech.
Learn more about Lambda
Size
1,000 employees
Industry
Net Income
-$5 million
Founded
2017
5 Year Trend
+100%
Revenue
$100 million
NASDAQ

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