Role description
Thunder ComputeThe short version
Thunder Compute runs a GPU cloud on systems software we built from scratch in C++. It lets us get far more out of every GPU than the rest of the market.
You'll write the core C++ behind it, reporting directly to our CTO, Brian Model (ex-Citadel Securities quant dev). The team comes from Citadel Securities, Aquatic, Old Mission, and AWS.
Compensation: $250–325K base, 0.1–0.3% equity, profit-sharing bonus pool (founders excluded). Visa sponsorship and relocation available.
What the work looks like
Remove microseconds from latency-critical paths that cross process and machine boundaries.
Build high-performance networking and data-transfer paths.
Keep low-level runtime code correct under fork, signals, multithreading, and dynamic linking, inside workloads we don't control.
Debug production failures that span the OS, the network, and the GPU, with no repro and no playbook.
Design allocation, scheduling, failure recovery, and observability across a GPU fleet.
Take new systems research from a paper or prototype into production.
It's the hardest parts of systems research and production engineering at the same time. One week you're tracing a synchronization bug across a distributed workload; the next, you're redesigning a hot path.
Who we are
Series A, with more than $17.5M raised from Matrix Partners, Y Combinator, and angels from CoreWeave, Microsoft, Cognition, and Anthropic. Small team, live in production with real customers, in downtown San Francisco.
What we look for
Exceptional modern C++: memory management, concurrency, performance, and systems-level abstraction design
Deep understanding of at least one of: operating systems, low-level networking, compilers, distributed systems, or computer architecture
Experience building and running performance-critical C++ in production
Strong Linux systems programming and debugging, and the ability to reason across unfamiliar layers of the stack
Ownership: you push a project from prototype to 100% done under tight deadlines, ship well-tested code without much oversight, and are happy to work directly with customers on hard production failures
Nice to have: CUDA or GPU systems, high-performance networking, distributed computing, compilers, or dynamic linking. Background at a trading firm (Citadel Securities, Jane Street, etc.), a hardware or AI infra company (NVIDIA, SambaNova, etc.), or a systems research group. Competitive programming, open-source, or research that shows strong fundamentals.
Logistics
Full-time, in person five days a week at our office in downtown San Francisco. Relocation support and visa sponsorship available.
Benefits
Profit sharing: a bonus pool paid out twice a year that grows with gross profit, plus $3.3M in near-term bonuses unlocked at gross-profit milestones, split by performance.
Daily lunch, dinner when in-office, snacks, and coffee. Offsites and team events. 401(k). Health, dental, and vision insurance.