# Principal Software Engineer

**Company:** [Astera](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/astera)
**Location:** Emeryville, CA
**Role:** Backend Engineering
**Salary:** $300k – $600k/yr
**Skills:** Python, Distributed Systems, Reinforcement Learning, System Architecture, High-Performance Computing, Large-Scale Models, Rl Environments, Production Systems, Low-Level Optimization, Scalable Infrastructure
**Posted:** 2026-01-28

> Architects high-performance infrastructure for training large-scale neuroscience-informed AI models and RL environments. Optimizes code, resolves critical bottlenecks, and scales research prototypes to production systems.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Define and architect high-performance infrastructure for training large-scale models and running complex simulations.
- Design and optimize custom RL environments informed by neuroscience.
- Set the organizational standard for clean, fast, production-grade code that boosts research velocity.
- Turn research prototypes into scalable production systems.
- Identify and resolve the most critical and ambiguous technical bottlenecks, from low-level optimization to high-level strategy, to unblock the research team.

## Qualifications
- **High-Velocity Craftsmanship**: Set the bar for clean, maintainable, and well-tested code at a startup pace. Balance engineering rigor with quick iteration on research prototypes.
- **System Architecture Intuition**: Proven success architecting complex systems from scratch. Understand multi-year trade-offs and design infrastructure that survives research chaos.
- **Extreme Adaptability**: Expert in distributed systems today, ready to master neuroscience tomorrow. Track record of diving into complex domains and guiding others.
- **Mastery of Hard Problems**: Track record leading resolution of difficult engineering challenges, such as massive scale distributed systems or kernel-level optimization.

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**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/18ce6f42-dade-4877-b790-8f6e88f65ec7
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/18ce6f42-dade-4877-b790-8f6e88f65ec7