Autonomy Work

About Modular

At Modular, we’re on a mission to revolutionize AI infrastructure by systematically rebuilding the AI software stack from the ground up. Our team, made up of industry leaders and experts, is building cutting-edge, modular infrastructure that simplifies AI development and deployment. By rethinking the complexities of AI systems, we’re empowering everyone to unlock AI’s full potential and tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

If you’re passionate about shaping the future of AI and creating tools that make a real difference in people’s lives, we want you on our team. You can read about our culture and careers to understand how we work and what we value.

About the role:

ML developers today face significant friction in taking trained models into deployment. They work in a highly fragmented space, with incomplete and patchwork solutions that require significant performance tuning and non-generalizable, model-specific enhancements. At Modular, we are building the Modular platform: a next generation AI platform that will radically improve the way developers build and deploy AI models.

We're continuously working to improve the performance and scalability of the Modular platform through advanced systems programming and distributed architectures. As a GenAI Systems Engineer, you'll architect flexible, robust, and scalable frameworks, supporting advanced inference optimizations like Disaggregated Inference, Speculative Decoding, and Distributed KV Caching.

LOCATION: Candidates based in the US or Canada are welcome to apply. To support growth and collaboration, those in earlier career stages work in a hybrid capacity at our Los Altos, CA office (minimum 2 days per week on-site) with relocation assistance provided for out-of-state candidates. Onboarding for new hires is conducted in-person in our Los Altos, CA office.

What you will do:

Leverage a broad understanding of available libraries and concurrency techniques to inform high impact architecture decisions
Identify and implement architecture-level optimizations in complex distributed systems
Architect and implement building blocks and APIs to accelerate the development of advanced distributed optimizations
Lead cross-functional projects spanning multiple teams and multiple layers of a deep tech stack
Build beautiful abstractions to seamlessly weave async RESTful layers with intensive data processing layers
Collaborate with cloud inference team to maximize flexibility in scalable cluster deployments
Develop extensible customization interfaces to support open source community models and features
Develop detailed and intuitive metrics, logging, and profiling tools

What you bring to the table:

Expert-level Python programming with deep understanding of asyncio and event loops
5+ years of systems programming experience with focus on performance and concurrency
Hands on experience with robust low-latency applications running production workloads
Extensive experience designing software architecture, interfaces, and collaboration
Deep understanding of the fundamentals of profiling, benchmarking, and performance optimization
Creativity and curiosity for learning and solving complex distributed systems problems

Helpful, but not required

Experience working inside high-performance ML inference systems (e.g. vLLM, SGLang, etc.)
Experience with Kubernetes, containers, microservices, and cloud-native architectures
Experience with graph based (e.g. dataflow, actors) programming models and runtimes
Experience with distributed runtimes such as Ray, Open MPI, Dask, Spark, etc

What Modular brings to the table:

Amazing Team. We are a progressive and agile team with some of the industry’s best engineering and product leaders.
World-class Benefits. In order to attract the best, we need to offer the best. Premier insurance plans, up to 5% 401k matching, flexible paid time off, and more are available to you! Please note that specific benefit packages may vary based on your location.
Competitive Compensation. We offer very strong compensation packages, including stock options. We want people to be focused on their best work and believe in tailoring compensation plans to meet the needs of our workforce.
Team Building Events. We organize regular team onsites and local meetups in Los Altos, CA as well as different cities. Traveling 2-4 times a year is expected for all roles.

Working at Modular will enable you to grow quickly as you work alongside incredibly motivated and talented people who have high standards, possess a growth mindset, and a purpose to truly change the world.

The estimated base salary range for this role to be performed in the US, regardless of the state, is $167,000.00 - $242,000.00 USD.

The estimated base salary range for this role to be performed in Canada, regardless of the province, is $164,000.00 - $237,000.00 CAD.

The salary for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of permissible, non-discriminatory job-related factors, which include but are not limited to education, training, work experience, business needs, or market demands. This range may be modified in the future. The total compensation for a candidate will also include annual target bonus, equity, and benefits, with equity making up a significant portion of your total compensation.

For candidates who fall outside of the listed requirements, we nevertheless encourage you to apply as we may have openings that are lower/higher level than the ones advertised.