Senior Systems Engineer - AI Infrastructure

Clockwork.io
On Site +1 more
On-site

Who this role is best for

Best suited to systems engineers with deep technical expertise in distributed computing and GPU infrastructure working in on-site settings.

Best fit for

  • Systems engineers with experience in modifying framework internals and building large-scale infrastructure
    — “You'll dig into internals, understand why things break under pressure”
  • Candidates who have worked on distributed coordination and fault-tolerant systems
    — “workload fault tolerance to keep jobs running through failures”
  • Individuals comfortable with high-performance networking and GPU systems
    — “high-performance I/O systems”

Things to consider

  • The role demands end-to-end responsibility for systems from design to production
    — “Own systems end-to-end: from design through production”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience in building, not just deploying, complex distributed systems
    — “You've designed and built complex systems—not just deployed or operated them”
  • Emphasize your ability to debug subtle, non-deterministic failures in concurrent systems
    — “Debug complex distributed/concurrent systems where failures are subtle and non-deterministic”
  • Showcase your proficiency in C/C++ and memory models in systems contexts
    — “Strong C/C++ in systems contexts”
  • Demonstrate your capability to read and modify large, unfamiliar codebases
    — “Comfortable reading and modifying large, unfamiliar codebases”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · MediumAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • design and implement low-level systems software for GPU clusters
  • work with internals of frameworks like PyTorch, NCCL, CUDA runtime
  • build components that make large-scale GPU training more reliable and efficient
Typical background
systems building experiencestrong C/C++ in systems contextsdeep understanding of concurrency, memory models

Skills & requirements

Required

Systems BuildingC/c++Distributed SystemsGPU Systems

Preferred

GPU Programming (cuda)High-performance Networking (rdma, Infiniband)ML Framework Or Runtime InternalsCluster Scheduling Or Orchestration Systems

Stack & domain

C/c++CUDAPyTorchNCCLRDMAInfinibandProblem-solvingTeamworkCommunicationLeadershipAIGPUDistributed Systems

About the role

Original posting from Clockwork.io via Greenhouse

About Clockwork Systems

Clockwork.io – Software Driven Fabrics to increase GPU cluster utilization

Clockwork Systems was founded by Stanford researchers and veteran systems engineers who share a vision for redefining the foundations of distributed computing. As AI workloads grow increasingly complex, traditional infrastructure struggles to meet the demands of performance, reliability, and precise coordination. Clockwork is pioneering a software-driven approach to AI fabrics by delivering cross-stack observability to catch and quickly resolve problems, workload fault tolerance to keep jobs running through failures, and performance acceleration that dynamically routes and paces traffic to avoid congestion.

To learn more, visit www.clockwork.io.About the Role

We're building infrastructure for fault-tolerant, high-performance distributed GPU training. You'll work at the intersection of GPU systems, high-speed networking, and distributed coordination—designing and implementing systems that run at scale.

This is a systems building role. You'll dig into internals, understand why things break under pressure, and design solutions that handle the messy reality of distributed systems.

What You'll Do

Design and implement low-level systems software for GPU clusters

Work with internals of frameworks like PyTorch, NCCL, CUDA runtime—not as a user, but modifying and extending them

Build components that make large-scale GPU training more reliable and efficient

Debug complex distributed/concurrent systems where failures are subtle and non-deterministic

Own systems end-to-end: from design through production

What We're Looking For

Required: Systems building experience

You've designed and built complex systems—not just deployed or operated them. Examples:

Kernel subsystems, device drivers, or OS-level components

Distributed storage, databases, or coordination systems

Runtimes, profilers, or performance tooling

Network stacks, protocols, or high-performance I/O systems

Large-scale infrastructure at the systems layer

Core technical skills:

Strong C/C++ in systems contexts 

Deep understanding of concurrency, memory models.

Experience reasoning about distributed system behavior: consistency, ordering, partial failures

Comfortable reading and modifying large, unfamiliar codebases

Nice to have: 

GPU programming (CUDA) or GPU systems experience

High-performance networking (RDMA, InfiniBand)

ML framework or runtime internals

Cluster scheduling or orchestration systems

We believe strong systems engineers pick up domain-specific tools quickly. We value your ability to reason about complex systems over checkbox familiarity with our specific stack.

Enjoy

Challenging projects.

A friendly and inclusive workplace culture.

Competitive compensation.

A great benefits package.

Catered lunch.

Compensation for this position will vary based on the skills and experience you bring, as well as internal equity considerations. For candidates hired at the posted level, the expected base salary range is $150,000 - $210,000. In addition to cash compensation, this role is eligible to participate in the company’s equity program, which may include stock options granted in accordance with the company’s equity plan and subject to approval and applicable vesting schedules.

Clockwork Systems is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building world-class teams by welcoming bright, passionate individuals from all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. We believe diversity drives innovation, and we grow stronger together.

Source: Clockwork.io careers (Greenhouse)

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