Clockwork Systems, Inc. Logo

Clockwork Systems, Inc.

Senior Systems Engineer - AI Infrastructure

Reposted 9 Days Ago
Be an Early Applicant
Easy Apply
In-Office
Palo Alto, CA, USA
Senior level
Easy Apply
In-Office
Palo Alto, CA, USA
Senior level
Design and implement systems software for high-performance GPU clusters. Debug complex distributed systems and own the systems lifecycle from design to production.
The summary above was generated by AI
About Clockwork Systems

Clockwork.io – Software Driven Fabrics to increase GPU cluster utilization

Clockwork Systems was founded by Stanford researchers and veteran systems engineers who share a vision for redefining the foundations of distributed computing. As AI workloads grow increasingly complex, traditional infrastructure struggles to meet the demands of performance, reliability, and precise coordination. Clockwork is pioneering a software-driven approach to AI fabrics by delivering cross-stack observability to catch and quickly resolve problems, workload fault tolerance to keep jobs running through failures, and performance acceleration that dynamically routes and paces traffic to avoid congestion.

To learn more, visit www.clockwork.io.
About the Role

We're building infrastructure for fault-tolerant, high-performance distributed GPU training. You'll work at the intersection of GPU systems, high-speed networking, and distributed coordination—designing and implementing systems that run at scale.

This is a systems building role. You'll dig into internals, understand why things break under pressure, and design solutions that handle the messy reality of distributed systems.

What You'll Do
  • Design and implement low-level systems software for GPU clusters
  • Work with internals of frameworks like PyTorch, NCCL, CUDA runtime—not as a user, but modifying and extending them
  • Build components that make large-scale GPU training more reliable and efficient
  • Debug complex distributed/concurrent systems where failures are subtle and non-deterministic
  • Own systems end-to-end: from design through production
What We're Looking For

Required: Systems building experience

You've designed and built complex systems—not just deployed or operated them. Examples:

  • Kernel subsystems, device drivers, or OS-level components
  • Distributed storage, databases, or coordination systems
  • Runtimes, profilers, or performance tooling
  • Network stacks, protocols, or high-performance I/O systems
  • Large-scale infrastructure at the systems layer

Core technical skills:

  • Strong C/C++ in systems contexts (not just application code)
  • Deep understanding of concurrency, memory models, and failure modes
  • Experience reasoning about distributed system behavior: consistency, ordering, partial failures
  • Comfortable reading and modifying large, unfamiliar codebases

Nice to have: 

  • GPU programming (CUDA) or GPU systems experience
  • High-performance networking (RDMA, InfiniBand)
  • ML framework or runtime internals
  • Cluster scheduling or orchestration systems

We believe strong systems engineers pick up domain-specific tools quickly. We value your ability to reason about complex systems over checkbox familiarity with our specific stack.

Senior Expectations
  • Lead design of significant system components
  • Navigate ambiguity and define technical direction
  • Mentor engineers and raise team capabilities
  • 8+ years building systems software

Enjoy

  • Challenging projects.
  • A friendly and inclusive workplace culture.
  • Competitive compensation.
  • A great benefits package.
  • Catered lunch.

Compensation for this position will vary based on the skills and experience you bring, as well as internal equity considerations. For candidates hired at the posted level, the expected base salary range is $150,000 - $230,000. The offered compensation package may also include stock options or other equity awards, subject to Clockwork’s equity program and applicable approvals.

Clockwork Systems is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building world-class teams by welcoming bright, passionate individuals from all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. We believe diversity drives innovation, and we grow stronger together.

Top Skills

C/C++
Cuda
Gpu Programming
High-Performance Networking
Infiniband
Nccl
PyTorch
Rdma
HQ

Clockwork Systems, Inc. Palo Alto, California, USA Office

3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA, United States, 94306

Similar Jobs

8 Days Ago
In-Office or Remote
Santa Clara, CA, USA
152K-288K Annually
Senior level
152K-288K Annually
Senior level
Artificial Intelligence • Computer Vision • Hardware • Robotics • Metaverse
Design, build, and maintain large-scale AI infrastructure and SRE tooling for GPU/HPC model training across public and private clouds. Improve observability, SLOs, incident response, automation, and system reliability while collaborating with engineering teams and driving operational maturity.
Top Skills: AWSAzureCC++ElkGCPGitlabGoJaxLinuxLokiOciPerlPrometheusPythonPyTorchRayRubyTensorFlowTerraform CdkWindows
Yesterday
In-Office
San Francisco, CA, USA
166K-210K Annually
Mid level
166K-210K Annually
Mid level
Big Data • Machine Learning • Software • Analytics • Big Data Analytics
As a Senior Applied AI Engineer, you will develop and deploy machine learning models, improve system performance, and drive AI initiatives at Databricks.
Top Skills: Ai ModelsData StorageMachine LearningMl InfrastructureOptimization AlgorithmsStatistical Analysis
An Hour Ago
In-Office
2 Locations
122K-179K Annually
Senior level
122K-179K Annually
Senior level
Cloud • Information Technology • Machine Learning
The Strategic Sourcing Manager leads sourcing initiatives for data center infrastructure, manages supplier performance, and develops procurement strategies aligned with business objectives.
Top Skills: Erp Systems

What you need to know about the San Francisco Tech Scene

San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area attracts more startup funding than any other region in the world. Home to Stanford University and UC Berkeley, leading VC firms and several of the world’s most valuable companies, the Bay Area is the place to go for anyone looking to make it big in the tech industry. That said, San Francisco has a lot to offer beyond technology thanks to a thriving art and music scene, excellent food and a short drive to several of the country’s most beautiful recreational areas.

Key Facts About San Francisco Tech

  • Number of Tech Workers: 365,500; 13.9% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
  • Major Tech Employers: Google, Apple, Salesforce, Meta
  • Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, fintech, consumer technology, software
  • Funding Landscape: $50.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
  • Notable Investors: Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins
  • Research Centers and Universities: Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; University of San Francisco; Santa Clara University; Ames Research Center; Center for AI Safety; California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account