AI Kernel Engineering Manager

About Modular

At Modular, a Qualcomm company, 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:

MAX is Modular's inference tech stack, built to run GenAI models fast across NVIDIA, AMD, Qualcomm, Trainium, TPU and more. The MAX Kernel team is the performance foundation of that stack, developing kernels using Mojo, GEMM, attention (MHA/MLA/MSA), MoE routing and grouped matmul, and the portable tile abstractions that let one kernel lower to many targets.

As the Engineering Manager of the MAX Kernel team, you will lead a team of kernel engineers, own the kernel roadmap and the per-model × per-hardware performance optimization to the best vendor and open-source stacks. You will partner closely with the Framework, Serve, Compiler/Runtime and Hardware Enablement teams, and help grow a kernel engineering community that spans Modular and Qualcomm.

LOCATION: Candidates based in the United States are welcome to apply. You can work in our office in Los Altos, CA or remotely from home. Onboarding for new hires is conducted in-person in our Los Altos, CA office.

What you will do:

•  Lead, hire, coach and grow a team of ~12 kernel engineers across NVIDIA, AMD and ASIC hardwares; own career development, performance management and team health.
• Own the MAX kernel roadmap and delivery: match or beat the performance of other open-source kernel libraries on each business essential model × hardware target.
• Support portable kernel architecture (TileTensor / TensorEngine / TileIO, reusable building blocks such as MegaFFN and the attention family) together with tech leads.
• Partner cross-functionally with Framework, Serve, Compiler/Runtime, Hardware Enablement and Qualcomm kernel teams on priorities, interfaces and escalations.
• Advance AI-assisted kernel development (kernel agents, fuzz verification, playbooks) and the kernel engineering community across org boundaries.

What you bring to the table:

• 3+ years as an engineering manager leading GPU kernel, compiler, HPC, or ML performance engineering teams. (minimum requirement)
• Strong cross-functional communication; able to drive technical decisions with tech leads and communicate status, risks and tradeoffs to engineering leadership and customers.
• Track record of hiring, retaining and growing senior kernel or performance engineers.
• Working knowledge of writing and optimizing GPU/accelerator kernels (CUDA, HIP/ROCm, Triton, CUTLASS/CuTe or similar).
• Deep understanding of profiling, benchmarking, and roofline analysis

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience. 

OR

• Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 7+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.

OR

• PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.

AND

• 4+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as Python, Mojo, Rust, C++, etc.

Helpful, but not required:

• Experience with Mojo or other kernel and tile-level programming models (Triton, TileLang, CuTe)
• Multi-target experience beyond NVIDIA: AMD, NPUs/ASICs or edge/on-device.
• Experience with AI-assisted or agentic kernel development.
• Open-source contributions to kernel libraries or inference engines.

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. Your benefits package may include comprehensive healthcare coverage, retirement and savings programs, employee stock purchase opportunities, paid time off, wellbeing resources, family support programs, and learning and development opportunities. Please note that specific benefit packages may vary based on your location, you can read more about benefits offered by Qualcomm here.
• Competitive Compensation. We offer very strong compensation packages, including RSU grants. 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 is $255,400.00 - $383,200.00 USD. 

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 upcoming openings that are lower/higher level than the ones advertised.