Job Title : Senior Performance Engineer (Consultant)
Location : Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Term : 3-Month Contract
The Opportunity
We are seeking an elite Senior Performance Engineer for a short-term consulting engagement to drive critical optimizations in our autonomous vehicle’s onboard software stack.
This role requires a deep-dive analysis of our near real-time Linux-based system , identifying and eliminating bottlenecks to ensure maximum efficiency, reliability, and deterministic performance . This is a unique opportunity to apply your expertise to one of the most challenging problems in technology today, with a direct and measurable impact on the performance of our autonomous fleet.
What You'll Do
- Conduct comprehensive performance analysis across the entire software stack, from the Linux kernel and drivers to the application layer.
- Utilize advanced profiling and tracing tools ( perf, eBPF, ftrace , etc.) to diagnose CPU, GPU, memory, I / O, and network bottlenecks.
- Optimize system and thread scheduling to meet near real-time deadlines and minimize latency in critical processing pipelines.
- Analyze Inter-Process Communication (IPC) mechanisms to increase throughput and reduce overhead.
- Identify and remediate architectural pitfalls that can cause performance degradation, memory fragmentation, or unpredictable timing .
- Collaborate closely with core engineering teams to implement architectural improvements .
- Develop and document best practices and performance-aware design patterns for engineers.
- Establish KPIs and monitoring tools to prevent performance regressions.
Who You Are
Linux expert with deep knowledge of kernel internals , including scheduling, memory management, and networking.Hands-on experience with performance profiling and tracing tools such as perf, eBPF, and ftrace .Proficient in C++ and other systems programming languages for high-performance, multithreaded applications.Strong understanding of modern CPU and GPU architectures and experience leveraging hardware acceleration (CUDA, TensorRT, or equivalent).Experienced in optimizing low-level software stacks , from hardware interrupts to application logic.Familiarity with real-time Linux patches (e.g., PREEMPT_RT) and deterministic scheduling.Able to communicate complex technical issues clearly to both engineers and leadership.Preferred Qualifications
Prior experience in autonomous vehicles, robotics, aerospace, or high-frequency trading (HFT) .Experience with robotics middleware (e.g., ROS, DDS) and performance tuning.Knowledge of hardware-specific acceleration and GPU optimization pipelines.Demonstrated ability to design custom performance analysis tooling when needed.Skills
Expert in Linux systems and performance analysis tools : perf, eBPF, ftrace.Systems programming and multithreaded application optimization in C++.Deep understanding of hardware-specific acceleration : CUDA, TensorRT, GPU programming.Performance tuning across CPU, GPU, memory, I / O, and network subsystems .Knowledge of real-time Linux patches (PREEMPT_RT) and deterministic scheduling.Expertise in IPC optimization, low-latency pipelines, and performance KPIs .Strong analytical, statistical, and benchmarking skills .Excellent communication and documentation skills .