Software Research Intern, AI Networking Team - Fall 2025

NVIDIA’s Data-Center-on-a-Chip (DOCA) Hyperscale Engineering team is seeking a part-time Software Research Engineer—ideally a PhD candidate in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering —to help prototype, evaluate, and extend our software-defined networking stack on the BlueField DPU / CX SuperNICs. You’ll join a small, collaborative group of SDK developers, firmware engineers, and DPU architects to gain hands-on experience with ground breaking networking technologies and contribute to our next-generation data-center platform

Are you interested in direct mentorship from NVIDIA architects and engineers at the forefront of DPU SoC technology? Join us to gain hands-on experience optimizing and scaling network applications in hardware-accelerated environments. You’ll have the opportunity to shape both an open SDK (DOCA) and internal research initiatives, all while enjoying competitive hourly compensation and access to NVIDIA’s world-class technical resources. Let’s connect!

What You’ll be doing:

• Collaborate with DOCA/DPDK engineers to prototype new features and benchmarks for our BlueField DPU platform

• Develop, test, and document C/C++ applications that bring to bear hardware-accelerated networking primitives

• Build performance measurement tools and run experiments to analyze throughput, latency, and offload efficiency

• Participate in design reviews, code walkthroughs, and team discussions on architecture and APIs

• Write clear technical reports and present findings to the DOCA team and academic advisors

• Aid in customer or partner demos, preparing scripts and helping with live virtualization or RDMA showcases

What we need to see:

• Pursuing an MS degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering. PhD is preferred.

• Strong C and/or C++ programming skills, with coursework or projects in systems, networking, or embedded software

• Familiarity with Linux development tools, build systems (CMake, Make), and debugging (gdb, perf)

• Solid understanding of basic networking concepts (TCP/IP, UDP, packet processing)

• Excellent written and verbal communication—able to produce concise reports and slides

• Self-motivated, well organized, and able to balance academic and part-time work responsibilities

• Position may be remote or hybrid (onsite at NVIDIA’s US offices) depending on your location and availability

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

• Prior experience with DPDK or kernel‐bypass networking libraries

• Exposure to virtualization (KVM, Docker) or container networking

• Hands-on projects involving RDMA, SmartNICs, or hardware offloads

• Background in performance analysis or low-level optimization

We are widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and creative people in the world working for us. If you're creative and autonomous with a real passion for technology, we want to hear from you.

The hourly rate for our interns is 18 USD - 71 USD. Our internship hourly rates are a standard pay determined based on the position and your location, year in school, degree, and experience.

You will also be eligible for Intern 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.