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Topography Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Senior Software Engineer - Topography

Santa Clara, CA · Remote

$143K - $189K/yr

Are you passionate about Kubernetes and AI and want to help build the best platform for ML/AI infrastructure? Do you thrive when your work directly empowers teams to push the boundaries of what ...

Sr. Civil Engineer

Oakland, CA · On-site

$90K - $165K/yr

Process and review provided topography and flood depth data in Civil 3D * Perform post-to-post slope analysis to accurately determine the correct product to use for each post. * Perform grading ...

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Showing results 1-20

Topography information

See California salary details

$11

$23

$40

How much do topography jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 7, 2026, the average hourly pay for topography in California is $23.59, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $18.03 and $26.11 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

Can you get a degree in topography?

Topography is a specialized field often included within geology, surveying, or civil engineering programs. You can pursue a degree in these areas, which provide the technical knowledge and skills needed for topographic surveying and mapping. Certification and proficiency with tools like GPS and GIS software are also important for topographers.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a topographer?

To thrive in topography, you need a strong background in geography, surveying techniques, cartography, and spatial analysis, often supported by a relevant degree or certification. Technical proficiency is important in using tools like GPS equipment, Total Stations, GIS software, and AutoCAD. Attention to detail, critical thinking, and clear communication are valuable soft skills for gathering precise data and collaborating with engineers or planners. These qualities are essential for producing accurate topographical maps and survey results that support construction, planning, and environmental projects.

What careers use topography?

Careers that use topography include surveyors, cartographers, civil engineers, geologists, and GIS specialists. These professionals utilize topographic data and mapping tools to plan construction, analyze landforms, and create detailed maps, often working with GPS, CAD software, and field surveys.

What does a topographer do?

A Topography job involves studying and mapping the physical features of land, including elevation, contours, and natural or man-made structures. Professionals in this field, known as topographers or surveyors, use specialized equipment like GPS, drones, and total stations to collect data. This information is used in construction, urban planning, environmental management, and geographic analysis. Topography helps ensure accurate land assessments for projects like roadways, buildings, and flood control.

What are the most commonly searched types of Topography jobs in California? The most popular types of Topography jobs in California are:
What cities in California are hiring for Topography jobs? Cities in California with the most Topography job openings:
Infographic showing various Topography job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 92% Full Time, and 8% Part Time. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $49,073 per year, or $23.6 per hour.

Senior Software Engineer - Topography

Nvidia Corporation

Santa Clara, CA • On-site

$143K - $189K/yr

Full-time

This job post has expired today. Applications are no longer accepted.


Nvidia rating

9.6

Company rating: 9.6 out of 10

Based on 17 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

8th of 242 rated software companies


Job description

Are you passionate about Kubernetes and AI and want to help build the best platform for ML/AI infrastructure? Do you thrive when your work directly empowers teams to push the boundaries of what's possible? We're a collaborative group of engineers, architects, and SREs who are passionate about building and nurturing the declarative, Kubernetes-native control plane that powers GPU-accelerated infrastructure across multiple cloud providers.
We are building a platform that gathers topology related information from multiple sources and systems, aggregates and normalizes that data, and makes it available to provisioning systems and workload schedulers. We are looking for Senior Software Engineer who will be directly involved in not only helping maintain this critical open-source project for the community, but interfacing with bleeding edge NVIDIA hardware to ensure GPU to GPU communication is optimized for large-scale workloads across multiple providers.
What you'll be doing:
  • Building a system that gathers topology related information from multiple sources
  • Taking data collected to aggregate and normalize the data to make it available for provisioning systems and workload schedulers
  • Direct contributor in a critical open-source project, Topograph
  • Interacting with the latest and greatest hardware to ensure new product launches have the most efficient scheduling capabilities

What we need to see:
  • At least 8 years of relevant experience
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience.
  • Strong production engineering experience in Go or another systems language.
  • Experience with distributed systems, Kubernetes, Slurm/Slinky, Linux, containers, APIs, and CI.
  • Ability to design clean interfaces between discovery logic, data models, and scheduler output.
  • Familiarity with networking, cluster topology, cloud infrastructure, or large-scale compute systems.
  • Excellent testing, debugging, documentation, and code review habits:

Ways to stand out from the crowd:
  • Experience with GPU clusters, NVLink, InfiniBand, Ethernet fabrics, or HPC.
  • Hands-on work with Kubernetes scheduling, Slurm/Slinky topology, DRA, Kueue, Slinky, or device plugins.
  • Experience integrating with cloud provider topology APIs or cluster metadata systems.

NVIDIA is leading the way in groundbreaking developments in Artificial Intelligence, High-Performance Computing and Visualization. The GPU, our invention, serves as the visual cortex of modern computers and is at the heart of our products and services. Our work opens up new universes to explore, enables amazing creativity and discovery, and powers what were once science fiction inventions from artificial intelligence to autonomous cars. NVIDIA is looking for great people like you to help us accelerate the next wave of artificial intelligence. 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 a creative, curious, and driven technical leader, we want to hear from you!
#LI-Remote
Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 184,000 USD - 287,500 USD.
You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.
Applications for this job will be accepted at least until July 5, 2026.
This posting is for an existing vacancy.
NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.
NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive 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.

What Nvidia employees say

Pay

Benefits

Hours and flexibility

Workplace

Get the full story on Breakroom


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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