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Distributed Systems Software Engineer Jobs in California

Apple

Systems Software Engineer

San Diego, CA · On-site

$183.70K - $217.60K/yr

The Product Integrity group is looking for a Systems Software Engineer to develop future products ... debugging distributed applicationsExperience debugging at all levels of an operating ...

Apple

Systems Software Engineer

San Diego, CA · On-site

$120.30K - $210.10K/yr

Systems Software Engineer The Product Integrity group is looking for a Systems Software Engineer to ... Experience building and debugging distributed applications * Experience debugging at all levels of ...

Meta

Software Systems Engineer

Fremont, CA

$144K/yr

Meta is seeking a Software Systems Engineer to join our Production Systems Engineering organization ... Experience designing and operating distributed systems software at scale, including monitoring ...

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Distributed Systems Software Engineer information

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Distributed Systems Software Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Distributed Systems Software Engineer, you need strong programming skills (often in languages like Java, Go, or C++), a deep understanding of algorithms, networking, and distributed computing concepts, typically supported by a degree in computer science or a related field. Familiarity with tools and frameworks such as Kubernetes, Apache Kafka, Docker, and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) is highly valued, as are certifications in cloud or devops technologies. Excellent problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills help you design scalable solutions and collaborate across teams. These skills are crucial for building reliable, efficient, and scalable distributed systems that power modern applications and services.

What are the typical challenges faced by Distributed Systems Software Engineers when ensuring system reliability?

Distributed Systems Software Engineers often encounter challenges like handling network partitioning, ensuring data consistency across nodes, and effectively managing system failures. They need to design resilient architectures that can recover gracefully when components fail, and implement robust monitoring to detect issues early. Collaborating closely with DevOps, QA, and other engineering teams is crucial to address these challenges and maintain high availability and performance in complex, distributed environments.

What are Distributed Systems Software Engineers?

Distributed Systems Software Engineers are professionals who design, develop, and maintain software that runs across multiple computers or servers, working together to achieve a common goal. They build systems that are reliable, scalable, and efficient, often handling large volumes of data and user requests. Their work involves solving challenges related to network communication, data consistency, fault tolerance, and system coordination. These engineers frequently use technologies like cloud computing platforms, message queues, and databases to ensure smooth operation across distributed environments.

What is the difference between Distributed Systems Software Engineer vs Cloud Software Engineer?

AspectDistributed Systems Software EngineerCloud Software Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's in CS or related, experience with distributed architecturesBachelor's in CS, experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure)
Work EnvironmentDevelops scalable distributed applications, often in data centers or on-premisesBuilds and maintains cloud-based solutions, deploying on cloud platforms
Employer & Industry UsageTech companies, data centers, distributed computing firmsCloud service providers, SaaS companies, enterprises adopting cloud
Search & Comparison IntentUnderstanding roles in distributed architectureComparing cloud-focused development roles

While both roles involve building scalable software, a Distributed Systems Software Engineer focuses on designing and implementing distributed architectures, whereas a Cloud Software Engineer specializes in deploying and managing applications on cloud platforms. The roles often overlap but differ mainly in their environment and specific technical focus.

What are popular job titles related to Distributed Systems Software Engineer jobs in California? For Distributed Systems Software Engineer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Distributed Systems Software Engineer jobs in California look for? The top searched job categories for Distributed Systems Software Engineer jobs in California are:
Distributed Systems Software Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Distributed Systems Software Engineer job openings in California as of May 2026, with employment types broken down into 2% As Needed, 89% Full Time, 3% Part Time, 2% Temporary, 2% Contract, and 2% Nights. Highlights an 87% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution.
System Software Engineer, Distributed Systems

System Software Engineer, Distributed Systems

Nvidia Corporation

Santa Clara, CA • On-site

$203.20K - $240.80K/yr

Full-time

Posted 16 days ago

Job description

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. As an NVIDIAN, you'll be immersed in a diverse, supportive environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work. Come join the team and see how you can make a lasting impact on the world.
The VLSI Productivity and Infrastructure team supports 1000+ chip design engineers by building tools and platforms that supercharge their everyday work. Our mission: make chip designers faster. We build and operate long shelf-life systems spanning build automation, observability, analytics, automated error detection/remediation, and codebase modernization-with a strong commitment to stability. Our core workflow infrastructure runs as userspace software on bare-metal Linux hosts (no sudo, no containers). We coordinate shared state and artifacts via NFS, launch long-running, compute-heavy workflows on IBM LSF, and provide adjacent services for APIs and observability. This is a high-ownership environment where you'll often be the expert on what you build. We are looking for a pragmatic and versatile systems engineer who enjoys working near the metal and building tools that empower other engineers. This is a generalist role with an emphasis on distributed systems and operational excellence in a "below containers" world: coordination, reliability, performance, and safe evolution of legacy systems (including incremental modernization of large codebases into Go). This isn't a CI/CD pipeline configuration role; you will be writing the userspace software that manages state, concurrency, and reliability at scale.
What you will be doing:
  • Design, build, and deliver core components of our next-generation productivity platforms
  • Develop reliable userspace infrastructure for long-running engineering workflows at scale on bare-metal Linux hosts
  • Build state coordination over NFS (atomicity, idempotency/dedup, partial-write recovery, without privileged ops)
  • Build and improve orchestration around IBM LSF (submission/tracking, retries/cancel, log capture, fairness/backpressure)
  • Convert legacy codebases into modern powerhouses using incremental migration techniques (e.g., Perl to Go), with stage gates, parity strategies, and strong observability
  • Debug and improve performance and reliability across Linux and Kubernetes, including operational tooling
  • Collaborate with engineering users to turn ambiguous workflows into durable production systems

What we need to see:
  • B.S. CS/EE (or equivalent experience)
  • 5+ years developing and operating production software in Go and/or Python, ideally in large codebases
  • Strong Linux fundamentals: processes, filesystems, permissions, synchronization/locks, concurrency, and debugging
  • Solid distributed-systems thinking: failures, retries/timeouts, backoff, idempotency, and operational rigor
  • Experience building long-runtime automation or services on shared compute clusters (batch schedulers, build systems)
  • Ability to translate ambitious, high-level goals into a safe delivery plan (instrumentation, staged rollout, measurable outcomes)

Ways to stand out from the crowd:
  • Hands-on experience with shared filesystems at scale (NFS), or coordination patterns on eventually-consistent storage
  • Experience with batch job scheduling, shared compute fleets, or build systems
  • Track record of incremental modernization (tests, shadow runs, canaries, rollback plans)
  • Experience partitioning/optimizing metadata-heavy systems and reducing I/O or R/W hot spots
  • Strong incident/debug tactics: clear root-cause analysis, remediation, and guardrails as well as rapid comprehension and ownership of unfamiliar codebases in any language (including LLM-generated code) to implement high-leverage changes

With competitive salaries and a generous benefits package, we are widely considered to be one of the technology world's most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and hardworking people in the world working for us and, due to unprecedented growth, our exclusive engineering teams are rapidly growing. If you're a creative and autonomous engineer with a real passion for technology, we want to hear from you.
Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 152,000 USD - 241,500 USD for Level 3, and 184,000 USD - 287,500 USD for Level 4.
You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.
Applications for this job will be accepted at least until April 4, 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.
Nvidia logo

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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