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Lead SDE C/C++ Hardware/Software Co-Design, Machine Learning Acceleration Systems

Amazon

San Diego, CAJob$193–262K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$193–262K/yr
Location
San Diego, CA
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

Annapurna Labs develops custom silicon and software for machine-learning acceleration. The Lead SDE will join the embedded software team to build bare-metal firmware that drives neural-network execution on custom ASIC-based accelerator chips. The role spans pre- through post-silicon development and involves close work with architecture, design, verification, and software teams. Machine-learning knowledge is not required at hire; onboarding provides an opportunity to learn about ML and the accelerators.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

ProgrammingSoftware Development LifecycleDesign LeadershipEmbedded DevelopmentC/C++MentoringFirmware DevelopmentBare-Metal SoftwareHardware/Software Co-DesignHardware-in-the-Loop TestingComputer Architecture

Qualifications

7+ Years Programming Experience7+ Years Software Development Lifecycle Experience5+ Years Design or Architecture LeadershipBachelor's in Computer Science or Equivalent

Benefits

Medical Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
401(k) Match
Paid Time Off
Parental Leave

Full job description

Description

Annapurna Labs stands at the forefront of hardware/software co-design, leading innovation not just within Amazon Web Services (AWS) but across the entire industry. We design and build every component of our hardware and software to create best-in-class machine learning products that accelerate customer workloads through industry leading hardware using our custom silicon solutions. If you're passionate about building the highest-performing, hardware-accelerated Machine Learning systems and want to be part of the entire journey from pre- through post-silicon development, Annapurna Labs offers an exceptional career opportunity. Join us in shaping the future of AI acceleration

At the heart of AWS Machine Learning servers reside our custom Amazon-designed silicon that powers next-generation machine learning capabilities for our customers. We're seeking an experienced C/C++ engineer to join our embedded software team, where you'll develop bare metal firmware that drives neural network model execution across our custom ASIC-based ML Accelerator chips.

Working at the intersection of hardware and software, you'll collaborate closely with our architecture and design teams to design and implement firmware and custom hardware that enables machine learning within our accelerator chips. Our mission is ambitious: to democratize access to industry-leading ML infrastructure and make deep learning capabilities accessible to everyday software developers. From the ground up, you'll help design and build the foundation that makes this vision possible.

The Annapurna Labs team operates with the agility and culture of a startup, but with the full weight of Amazon behind us and we invite you visit the link below for a glimpse inside our labs to see exactly the incredible technology and people you will work with at Annapurna Labs!

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/take-a-look-inside-the-lab-where-aws-makes-custom-chips

This is a fast-paced, challenging position, where you'll work with thought-leaders in multiple technology areas. You'll have high standards for yourself and everyone you work with, and you'll be constantly looking for ways to improve our products' performance, quality, and cost. We're searching for individuals who want to reach beyond what is possible today and change an industry.

No prior ML knowledge is required for this role and you will learn about the inner workings of ML and our custom ML accelerators as part of your onboarding.

Key job responsibilities

  • Applying Software/Hardware co-design principles

  • Embedded software design, implementation, testing, debugging and performance improvements

  • Test suite and infrastructure design

  • Owning the design and final implementation of maintainable, documented and well tested software

  • Close collaboration with RTL designers, design verification engineers, and other software teams

  • Team tech lead for best practices, computer architecture and software design choices

  • Mentor, coach and set technical direction for other software Engineers

Basic Qualifications

  • 7+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience

  • 7+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience

  • 5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience

  • Experience in embedded development in C/C+- Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team

Preferred Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent

  • Experience writing firmware or bare metal software using C/C+- Experience in Hardware/Software co-design

  • Experience with Hardware-In-The-Loop testing

  • Background in Computer Architecture and Design

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits .

USA, CA, Cupertino - 193,300.00 - 261,500.00 USD annually

How this job compares

Set against the 41,980 open Software Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 5, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$193–262K/yr
  • California median$165–246K/yr7,809 salary ranges
  • US median$135–218K/yr33,365 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $227K, is 11% above the California median midpoint ($205K) — in the middle half of Software Engineer salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 9,727 open Software Engineer jobs in California and 41,980 across the US. 8% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in California
Experience
This posting asks for at least 7 years of experience; Software Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years at the median (34,185 postings).
Education
13,985 of the 41,980 open Software Engineer jobs (33%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 5, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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