What You'll Be Working On
- Bring current inference techniques into production and refine them.
- Design and optimize serving architectures, including prefill and decode disaggregation, request routing, and related approaches.
- Work down into the serving stack, from frameworks like vLLM and SGLang to the CUDA kernels underneath, profiling and running in-depth analysis to find and fix performance problems.
- Adapt and scale optimization methods across many kinds of ML models, with an emphasis on large language models.
- Profile and tune deployments against clear targets for latency, throughput, and cost, and keep them dependable under real traffic.
- Tailor deployments to each customer's models and constraints, partnering with their engineering teams to move a workload from an early proof of concept through to a live, well-monitored production service.
- Build and support the software and product features around the inference stack in a production setting, using one or more general-purpose languages, with Python preferred given how central it is to ML work.
- Experiment quickly: take fuzzy goals, shape them into clear specs and focused proofs of concept, run fast experiments to find what works, and ship well-tested results without delay.
- Own delivery end to end, from the first experiment through to the optimization running in production, keeping the underlying performance goals, clear specs, and follow-through front of mind, and drafting features and product requirement documents together with other engineering and product teams.
- Work through ambiguity and make sound calls on tradeoffs and tooling, steering away from complexity that is not needed.
- Take real pride and ownership in your work, hold yourself accountable, and look for the same from the people around you.
What You'll Bring to the Team
- A Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field.
- Hands-on experience shipping code in production with one or more general-purpose languages, such as Python or C++, with a strong preference for Python.
- Familiarity with methods for optimizing LLMs for high throughput / low latency inference.
- Comfort with modern LLM serving frameworks such as vLLM or SGLang, and with profiling and analyzing performance down to the kernel level.
- A firm grasp of how GPUs are built and how they behave.
- Clear interest and hands-on experience with large language models.
- A working knowledge of AI/ML pipelines and the full path of developing and deploying ML models.
- Strong communication skills, particularly when explaining hard technical topics to customers and teammates.
Bonus Points
- A track record of making software systems run faster, especially for large language models.
- Experience with CUDA or comparable technologies.
- A strong command of software engineering fundamentals, with a record of building and shipping AI/ML inference systems.
- Experience with Docker and Kubernetes.
- Prior work building or tuning AI/ML projects, particularly in a customer-facing setting.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation and equity packages
- Restricted Stock Units
- Paid time off, paid holidays & leave of absence programs
- Comprehensive health, dental & vision insurance
- Employer contributions to HSA account
- Paid parental leave
- Paid life insurance, short-term and long-term disability
- Professional development & tuition reimbursement
- Mental health & wellness support
- Commuter benefits (parking & transit)
- Cell phone stipend
- 401(k) Retirement plan with company match up to 4% of salary
- Volunteer time off
- Global travel insurance & emergency assistance
- Daily meals allowance
- Additional perks & programs specific to location
Compensation Range
Compensation will be paid in the range of up to $250,000 - $300,000 + Bonus. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers. Compensation to be determined by the applicant's knowledge, education, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.
CrusoeSan Francisco, CA
