Software Engineer Systems Generalist

About the role

We’re looking for generalist infrastructure and systems engineers to help build the systems that power our foundation models and the internal teams on research and product development to be able to create the models and ship the products powered by our models.

Responsibilities

• Join a small, high-impact team responsible for architecting and scaling the core infrastructure behind everything we do.
• Work across the full technical stack, solving complex distributed systems problems and building robust, scalable platforms.
• Infrastructure is critical to us: it's the bedrock that enables every breakthrough.
• Work directly with researchers to accelerate experiments, improve infrastructure efficiency, and enable key insights across our models, products, and data assets.

Qualifications

• Minimum qualifications: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in computer science, engineering, or similar.
• Proficiency in at least one backend language (we use Python or Rust).
• Experience operating large-scale clusters and container orchestration systems (e.g. Kubernetes or Slurm).
• Comfort operating across the stack and owning projects end-to-end.
• Thriving in a highly collaborative environment involving many, different cross-functional partners and subject matter experts.
• A bias for action with a mindset to take initiative to work across different stacks and different teams where you spot the opportunity to make sure something ships.

Preferred qualifications

• Strong debugging across application, OS, and network layers.
• Proficiency in Python or Rust (or similar), containers, and modern CI.
• Experience with Kubernetes, controllers/operators, or performance profiling.
• Familiarity with GPU/ML workflows or large-scale data/eval pipelines.

Logistics

• Location: This role is based in San Francisco, California.
• Compensation: Depending on background, skills and experience, the expected annual salary range for this position is $350,000 - $475,000 USD.
• Visa sponsorship: We sponsor visas. While we can't guarantee success for every candidate or role, if you're the right fit, we're committed to working through the visa process together.

Benefits

• Thinking Machines offers generous health, dental, and vision benefits, unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, and relocation support as needed.