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Distinguished Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Nvidia

Distinguished Engineer, JAX

Santa Clara, CA · On-site

NVIDIA is hiring a distinguished engineer to develop its AI platform and more specifically its performance optimizations in deep learning frameworks using JAX, a tool that can differentiate between ...

Roblox

Distinguished Engineer, Consumer Apps

San Mateo, CA · On-site

$397K - $455K/yr

Consumer Apps Technical Director The Distinguished Engineer will play a pivotal role in building out a platform expansion strategy to help scale the Roblox UI. As the Distinguished Engineer within ...

GEICO

Distinguished Engineer, Policy Platform

Palo Alto, CA · On-site

$150K - $300K/yr

Position Description The Distinguished Engineer leads the overall architecture and design of the systems that power our policy platform and works with our senior engineers to innovate and build new ...

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How much do distinguished engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 9, 2026, the average yearly pay for distinguished engineer in California is $94,542.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $79,900.00 and $114,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the Distinguished Engineer position, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Distinguished Engineer, you need extensive expertise in software architecture, system design, and deep technical problem-solving, often supported by an advanced degree and a robust track record in engineering leadership roles. Mastery of programming languages, architectural frameworks, cloud platforms, and experience with industry-standard tools such as CI/CD pipelines is typical, along with relevant certifications like AWS Certified Solutions Architect or Google Cloud Professional Engineer. Exceptional communication, mentorship, and strategic thinking skills set candidates apart by fostering innovation and guiding teams towards effective solutions. These skills and qualities are crucial for driving large-scale technical initiatives, shaping company-wide technology strategies, and mentoring engineering talent.

What is a Distinguished Engineer job?

A Distinguished Engineer is a senior-level technical expert recognized for their deep expertise, leadership, and impact on engineering and innovation. They drive complex technical strategies, mentor engineers, and influence the company's technology direction. Unlike managerial roles, they focus on solving high-impact technical challenges and setting industry standards.

What are typical career advancement opportunities for a Distinguished Engineer?

As a Distinguished Engineer, you have the opportunity to influence major technical decisions and take on leadership roles in shaping company technology strategy. While this position is already among the highest technical tracks, you may advance further to roles like Chief Architect or Principal Technical Fellow, or choose to expand your impact by moving into organizational leadership or executive positions. Distinguished Engineers often lead cross-functional initiatives, mentor other engineers, and represent the company in industry forums or technical communities. This role offers a blend of deep technical contribution and broad organizational influence, enabling career growth along both technical and leadership paths.

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Distinguished Engineer jobs near you
Distinguished Engineer, Apache Spark

Distinguished Engineer, Apache Spark

Nvidia Corporation

Santa Clara, CA • On-site

$134K - $161K/yr

Full-time

Posted 8 days ago

Job description

Distinguished Engineer - Accelerated Apache Spark
NVIDIA is seeking a Distinguished Engineer for the Apache Spark Acceleration group.
Over the past five years GPU accelerated data processing has moved from proof of concept to production deployments. Many enterprises are now recognizing the needs of accelerated computing for large scale data processing. Multi-node GPU deployments will reduce cloud computing costs and lower latency of large scale data processing.
At NVIDIA, we have been invested in accelerating Apache Spark, providing an open source plugin for Apache Spark. Apache Spark is the most popular data processing engine in data centers. We strive to accelerate Spark applications on GPUs without any code changes. Our OSS RAPIDS Spark library is integrated with on-premise and cloud services such as AWS EMR, Databricks, Google Dataproc, Oracle Cloud Data Flow, Bytedance Volcengine, Tencent Cloud and Cloudera.
You will serve as a hands-on architect of Nvidia Spark Acceleration Group. You will work with a team of distributed system engineers including PMC and Committers of Apache Spark, Apache Hadoop, Apache Hive, and Apache Arrow. You will engage in open source projects such as Apache Spark, RAPIDS, Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, UCX and more.
What you'll be doing:
  • Lead the architecture, design and implementation of accelerated Apache Spark and related big-data frameworks
  • Engage open source communities (including Apache Spark, RAPIDS, Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake and UCX) for technical discussion and contribution, and engage new communities where we may not have a strong presence yet
  • Work with NVIDIA partners to deploy GPU enabled data analytics solutions in public cloud or on-premises clusters
  • Present technical solutions at industry conferences and meetups
  • Collaborate with distributed systems teams to define solutions to distributed processing problems challenges at large scale
  • Provide recommendations and feedback to teams regarding decisions surrounding topics such as infrastructure, continuous integration and testing strategy
  • Build, test and optimize CUDA/C++ libraries across different platforms
  • Build automation and tools that will increase the productivity of teams developing distributed systems
  • Mentor members of the engineering team

What we need to see:
  • BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or closely related field (or equivalent experience)
  • 17+ years of work or research experience in software development
  • Prior experience in delivering complex software projects as a lead architect
  • Outstanding technical skills in designing and implementing high-quality distributed systems
  • Excellent programming skills in C++, Java, and/or Scala
  • Highly motivated with strong interpersonal skills and communication skills
  • 5+ years working experience with key open source big-data projects as a contributor or committer to Apache Spark, Apache Hadoop, Apache Flink, Apache Kafka, Apache Hive, Apache Arrow, Delta Lake
  • Excellent knowledge about distributed system schedulers: Kubernetes, Hadoop YARN, Apache Spark
  • Able to delve into a new area and quickly come up to speed
  • Able to work with teams across boundaries and geographies

Ways to stand out from the crowd:
  • Working experience in designing and developing columnar query engines would be a huge plus
  • Committership at major open source projects (such as Apache Spark, Apache Hadoop, Apache Flink) is a big plus
  • Working experience with acceleration libraries (CUDA, RAPIDS, UCX) is helpful

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 320,000 USD - 488,750 USD.
You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.
Applications for this job will be accepted at least until January 13, 2026.
This posting is for an existing vacancy.
NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.
NVIDIA is committed to fostering a diverse work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.
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About Nvidia

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. It's a unique legacy of innovation that's fueled by great technology--and amazing people. Today, we're tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what's never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world's best talent.

Industry

Computer and electronic product manufacturing

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Santa Clara, CA, US

Year founded

1993

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