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Scientific Software Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Software Engineer

Santa Clara, CA · On-site

$226K - $227K/yr

Education and Experience • Position requires a Master's degree or foreign equivalent degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related field plus two (2) years of experience in a ...

Software Engineer

Newark, CA · On-site

$181K - $190K/yr

Position requires a Master's degree or foreign equivalent degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related field plus two (2) years of experience in a related occupation. Position also ...

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Scientific Software Engineer information

See California salary details

$14

$38

$84

How much do scientific software engineer jobs pay per hour?

As of Jun 17, 2026, the average hourly pay for scientific software engineer in California is $38.84, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $16.59 and $56.68 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

How does a Scientific Software Engineer typically collaborate with researchers and domain experts on projects?

Scientific Software Engineers frequently work closely with researchers, scientists, and domain experts to translate complex scientific requirements into robust and efficient software solutions. Collaboration often involves participating in project meetings, understanding specific scientific models or data workflows, and iteratively refining software based on user feedback. This role requires strong communication skills and the ability to bridge the gap between technical software development and domain-specific needs, ensuring that the resulting tools are both scientifically accurate and user-friendly.

What are Scientific Software Engineers?

Scientific Software Engineers are professionals who design, develop, and maintain software applications tailored for scientific research and data analysis. They collaborate with scientists and researchers to create computational tools, simulations, or data processing pipelines that enable complex experiments and facilitate discovery. Their role often requires expertise in both domain-specific science and advanced programming, ensuring that software solutions are robust, efficient, and reproducible. Scientific Software Engineers typically work in academic institutions, research labs, or industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and climate science.

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

To thrive as a Scientific Software Engineer, you need a strong background in computer science, mathematics, and scientific domains, often with an advanced degree in a STEM field. Familiarity with programming languages like Python, C++, and MATLAB, as well as experience with scientific computing libraries and version control systems, is typically required. Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and effective collaboration are essential soft skills for this role. These competencies enable the development of robust and efficient scientific software, facilitating research and innovation in scientific projects.

What is the difference between Scientific Software Engineer vs Data Scientist?

AspectScientific Software EngineerData Scientist
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, Engineering, or related fields; programming skillsBachelor's or Master's in Data Science, Statistics, or related fields; programming and analytical skills
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, scientific organizations, tech companies focusing on simulation and modelingBusiness, tech companies, research institutions analyzing large datasets
Industry UsageScientific research, engineering, simulation developmentData analysis, predictive modeling, machine learning applications

While both roles require programming skills and a strong technical background, Scientific Software Engineers focus on developing software for scientific research and simulations, whereas Data Scientists analyze data to extract insights and build models. The roles often overlap in skills but differ in their primary objectives and work environments.

What job categories do people searching Scientific Software Engineer jobs in California look for? The top searched job categories for Scientific Software Engineer jobs in California are:
What cities in California are hiring for Scientific Software Engineer jobs? Cities in California with the most Scientific Software Engineer job openings:
Infographic showing various Scientific Software Engineer job openings in California as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 69% Full Time, 4% Part Time, 4% Temporary, and 23% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $80,788 per year, or $38.8 per hour.

Scientific Software Engineers

Jobs for Humanity

Santa Clara, CA

Full-time

Posted 2 days ago


Job description

Company Description
Jobs for Humanity is collaborating with Upwardly Global and with Nvidia to build an inclusive and just employment ecosystem. We support individuals coming from all walks of life.
Company Name: Nvidia
Job Description

Senior System Software Engineer - Scientific Computing PaaS
locations: US, CA, Santa Clara; US, Remote
time type: Full time
posted on: Posted Today
job requisition id: JR1979896
We are seeking a Sr System Software Engineer to help us build out our scientific computing platform on Nvidia DGX Cloud. We are building a cloud-based accelerated scientific computing platform as a service on the Nvidia DGX cloud. This DGX scientific computing cloud platform enables Physics-based Numerical Simulation Solvers, AI-based Training, Inference, and Visualization workflow for physical science and engineering problems. Those applications include Weather prediction, Climate modeling, Industrial design, and Digital twins simulation in various domains e.g. Aerospace, Automotive, Sports, Renewable energy, Bio-medical, and many more.
Are you passionate about solving rewarding problems at scale? Do you enjoy crafting robust, critical services for compute and data-intensive workloads? If so, you may be a phenomenal fit for our team!
What you'll be doing:
Design, Build, Deploy, and Operate Cloud-native microservices and APIs for scientific computing workload on DGX cloud.
Design services and take ownership of underlying cloud infrastructure for physics-informed and data-driven scientific workflows.
Design novel algorithms and actively engage with operations to increase overall system performance, it spans across the stack e.g. deep understanding of application code e.g. DL Framework, Numerical Solvers, Microservices, APIs, and Heterogeneous accelerated computing with CPUs and GPUs.
Design, Build, Deploy, and Operate scalable I/O infrastructure for checkpointing, data loading, pre & post-processing of data.
Optimize compute, storage, and network architecture specific to physics & simulation-driven applications.
What we need to see:
- BS/MS degree in Computer Science or related areas or equivalent experience.
- 10+ years experience working on building and operating distributed compute and data-intensive platform as a service on cloud
- Proven skill in a compiled language (Go, Rust, C++ or otherwise).
- Strong foundational knowledge in Cloud Computing e.g. "The Datacenter is a Computer" architecture, cloud security architecture, virtualization - CPU, Memory and IO, Resource pooling and elasticity.
- Proven skills in Distributed Systems & Parallel Processing e.g. System model of distributed computation e.g. topology abstraction, logical time. Synchronization and deadlock detection in distributed systems, Fault Tolerance and Failure Detection, Consensus and Agreement protocols, Parallel algorithms, shared memory and distributed memory architecture, message passing (MPI, NCCL), Cluster scalability and performance.
- Hands-on Debugging skills with Process, Threads, Deadlock and Synchronization, Scheduling, IPC, Memory management, File system, and I/O structure.
- Strong Evidence of Algorithmic Thinking & System Design skills e.g. Recursion, Graph, Tree, Stack, and Queue, Large scale loosely coupled distributed system design and operational experience.
- Be self-motivated, have strong interpersonal skills, and be able to work independently with multiple teams with minimal direction.
Ways to stand out from the crowd:
- Have built, deployed, and operated AI platforms on HPC clusters. Have built, deployed, and operated cloud-native system including distributed storage, scheduling, and orchestration among compute, storage, and network.
- Configuring and troubleshooting hardware, operating systems, kernels, compilers for maximum performance.
- Hands-on debugging skills to optimize performance of compute, networking, and I/O framework. Extensively worked on third-party source code for debugging and customization.
NVIDIA is widely considered to be one of the technology world's most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and hardworking people on the planet working for us. If you're creative and autonomous, we want to hear from you!
The base salary range is 180,000 USD - 339,250 USD. Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.
NVIDIA accepts applications on an ongoing basis. 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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