Roles · AI platform engineering
AI infrastructure and data engineers for GPU clusters and AI platforms
AI infrastructure engineers build and run the GPU clusters that models train and serve on, working with Slurm, Kubernetes, InfiniBand and the automation around them. Data engineers in an AI platform build the pipelines and datasets that feed those models. GPU clouds, AI labs and AI software companies hire both. Kernavique fills these roles two ways: Capacity places engineers on contract through their own companies, and Search makes permanent hires.
Last updated
AI infrastructure and data engineer
What the role does
- Designs GPU cluster topologies across compute, interconnect, storage and control planes, and models how LLM training and inference workloads will run on them.
- Brings up and configures large GPU clusters, up to a new data center with thousands of GPUs, and automates the OS, firmware, driver and network lifecycle as code.
- Builds the layer that hands GPUs to users: Kubernetes operators, virtual machines, parallel filesystems, virtual networks and scheduling for Kubernetes and Slurm clusters.
- Watches fabric, GPU, power, thermal and job-level health, troubleshoots the interconnect, and takes a turn on call.
- Builds the dataset infrastructure behind training and inference, from standardized dataset APIs to dataset loading tested at scale across thousands of GPUs.
- Builds the data platform for product telemetry, agent execution traces and model usage, with quality, lineage and governance built in.
Skills and credentials
Slurm and Kubernetes
Together AI scales GPU scheduling for on-demand and reserved Kubernetes and Slurm clusters, and asks for Kubernetes internals. Lambda’s Managed Kubernetes ad covers “Managed Slurm on Kubernetes”, and CoreWeave’s Senior Systems Engineer scope includes Slurm-on-Kubernetes (SUNK).
InfiniBand, RoCE and NCCL
Lambda’s Senior HPC Engineer troubleshoots InfiniBand and RoCE, NCCL, GPU-direct and switching. The Nebius GPU Cluster Architect validates InfiniBand HDR/NDR and RoCEv2 interconnects at pod and data-center scale.
GPU architecture
Nebius asks for 5+ years designing clusters and deep knowledge of GPU architecture (NVIDIA, AMD). Together AI is bringing up a new Vera Rubin data center “with thousands of GPUs”.
Automation as code
Lambda automates the OS, firmware, driver and network lifecycle with Ansible and Terraform, and asks for 7+ years in SRE, HPC or DevOps, with Python and Go. Together AI asks for 5+ years and prefers Go.
Data pipelines for AI
Baseten’s Data Engineer builds data models, semantic layers, and batch and streaming pipelines with Apache Beam, Kafka and Airflow. Harvey’s data platform runs streaming and batch ingestion into Snowflake, with CDC, orchestration and schema evolution.
Governance, telemetry and clearance
Harvey asks for quality, lineage and governance, including PII handling. Baseten analyzes AI inference and infrastructure telemetry from OpenTelemetry and Grafana. For public sector work, Scale AI’s Senior Data Engineer ad requires an active Secret clearance.
What the market pays
- Lambda
San Francisco / San Jose: $267K – $356K. Bellevue: $240K – $320K. Remote, USA: $227K – $303K
Senior HPC Engineer - Fleet Engineering
San Francisco; San Jose; Bellevue; Remote, USA. Not stated.
- Together AI
$220,000 - $270,000 + equity + benefits
Senior Software Engineer - AI Compute, Together Cloud
San Francisco. Base salary, plus equity.
- CoreWeave
$153,000 to $204,000
Senior Systems Engineer
Livingston, NJ; New York, NY; Sunnyvale, CA; Bellevue, WA. Base salary.
- Anthropic
$320,000 — $485,000 USD
Staff+ Infrastructure Engineer, Cluster Infrastructure
San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY; Seattle, WA. Not stated.
- OpenAI
$230K – $490K • Offers Equity
Software Engineer, GPU Infrastructure - HPC
San Francisco. Not stated.
- OpenAI
$250K – $380K • Offers Equity
Software Engineer, Data Infrastructure - Research
San Francisco. Not stated.
- Harvey
$193.4K – $290K • Offers Equity • Offers Bonus
Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform
San Francisco. Not stated.
- Baseten
$180K – $250K • Offers Equity
Data Engineer
San Francisco (also New York). Not stated.
- Cohere
USA - California, New York and Washington: $190K – $325K. USA - All Other States: $160K – $275K
Data Engineer, Data Foundations
New York. Base salary, plus equity.
- Scale AI
$180,000 — $225,000 USD
Senior Data Engineer, Public Sector
Washington, DC. Base salary.
| Employer | Role, as titled in the ad | Location | Published range | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lambda | Senior HPC Engineer - Fleet Engineering | San Francisco; San Jose; Bellevue; Remote, USA | San Francisco / San Jose: $267K – $356K. Bellevue: $240K – $320K. Remote, USA: $227K – $303K | Not stated |
| Together AI | Senior Software Engineer - AI Compute, Together Cloud | San Francisco | $220,000 - $270,000 + equity + benefits | Base salary, plus equity |
| CoreWeave | Senior Systems Engineer | Livingston, NJ; New York, NY; Sunnyvale, CA; Bellevue, WA | $153,000 to $204,000 | Base salary |
| Anthropic | Staff+ Infrastructure Engineer, Cluster Infrastructure | San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY; Seattle, WA | $320,000 — $485,000 USD | Not stated |
| OpenAI | Software Engineer, GPU Infrastructure - HPC | San Francisco | $230K – $490K • Offers Equity | Not stated |
| OpenAI | Software Engineer, Data Infrastructure - Research | San Francisco | $250K – $380K • Offers Equity | Not stated |
| Harvey | Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform | San Francisco | $193.4K – $290K • Offers Equity • Offers Bonus | Not stated |
| Baseten | Data Engineer | San Francisco (also New York) | $180K – $250K • Offers Equity | Not stated |
| Cohere | Data Engineer, Data Foundations | New York | USA - California, New York and Washington: $190K – $325K. USA - All Other States: $160K – $275K | Base salary, plus equity |
| Scale AI | Senior Data Engineer, Public Sector | Washington, DC | $180,000 — $225,000 USD | Base salary |
These are ranges for permanent roles, copied exactly from employers’ own ads, and “Not stated” means the ad does not say whether its range is base. Arrangements for engineers on contract through their own companies vary by engagement. Each employer links to its ad. All read October 11, 2026.
How we fill it
- Platform engineers
Capacity
GPU cluster, AI infrastructure and data engineers on contract through their own companies, for a build phase with a defined scope and term.
- Surge capacity
Capacity
Engineers on contract for a cluster build or data platform program that has slipped or grown, scoped with you and proposed by name.
- Engineering search
Search
Permanent infrastructure, HPC and data engineers for the team that will run the platform once it is built.
Questions buyers ask
- What does an AI infrastructure engineer do?
- They design, build and run the GPU clusters that models train and serve on. The Nebius GPU Cluster Architect ad describes designing topologies across compute, interconnect, storage and control planes. Lambda’s Senior HPC Engineer monitors fabric, GPU, power and thermal health, automates firmware, driver and network changes as code, and is on call.
- Which skills matter most for a GPU cluster engineer?
- Scheduling and the network. Ads from Together AI, Lambda and CoreWeave name Slurm and Kubernetes, and ads from Lambda and Nebius name InfiniBand and RoCE, with Lambda adding NCCL. Lambda also asks for automation with Ansible, Terraform, Python and Go. Ask what size of cluster someone has run, and what they did when the fabric failed.
- How is a data engineer in an AI platform different from other data engineers?
- The data feeds models and records how they behave. OpenAI’s Data Infrastructure role designs dataset APIs for its training stack and tests dataset loading across thousands of GPUs, while Harvey’s data platform takes in agent execution traces and model usage alongside product telemetry. Baseten’s Data Engineer analyzes inference telemetry to explain product usage and platform economics.
- What do AI infrastructure and data engineers earn?
- In the employer ads we read on October 11, 2026, CoreWeave gives a base of $153,000 to $204,000 for a Senior Systems Engineer. Lambda gives $267K to $356K for a Senior HPC Engineer in San Francisco and San Jose, and Anthropic $320,000 to $485,000 for its Staff+ Infrastructure Engineer, Cluster Infrastructure. On the data side, Scale AI gives a base of $180,000 to $225,000 for a Senior Data Engineer, Public Sector in Washington, DC.
- How soon will we see AI infrastructure or data engineers?
- We agree the shortlist timing with you at the brief call, based on the role and the market. Each engineer on the shortlist is named, with our notes on the clusters or data platforms they have built and run.
Terms on this page
- LLM
- Large language model, the kind of model behind chat assistants and many AI products.
- GPU
- Graphics processing unit, the chips most AI training and inference runs on.
- SRE
- Site reliability engineering: running production systems with software engineering methods.
Sources
- 01
Lambda, Senior HPC Engineer - Fleet Engineering
Dated Sep 1, 2026. Read Oct 11, 2026. jobs.ashbyhq.com
- 02
Lambda, Senior Software Engineer - Managed Kubernetes
Dated Sep 24, 2026. Read Oct 11, 2026. jobs.ashbyhq.com
- 03
Together AI, Senior Software Engineer - AI Compute, Together Cloud
Dated Jun 2, 2025. Read Oct 11, 2026. job-boards.greenhouse.io
- 04
Nebius, GPU Cluster Architect
Dated Aug 21, 2025. Read Oct 11, 2026. careers.nebius.com
- 05
CoreWeave, Senior Systems Engineer
Dated Jul 29, 2026. Read Oct 11, 2026. coreweave.com
- 06
Anthropic, Staff+ Infrastructure Engineer, Cluster Infrastructure
Dated Apr 30, 2026. Read Oct 11, 2026. job-boards.greenhouse.io
Show all 12 sourcesShow fewer sources
- 07
OpenAI, Software Engineer, GPU Infrastructure - HPC
Dated Feb 5, 2026. Read Oct 11, 2026. jobs.ashbyhq.com
- 08
OpenAI, Software Engineer, Data Infrastructure - Research
Dated Sep 18, 2025. Read Oct 11, 2026. jobs.ashbyhq.com
- 09
Harvey, Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform
Dated Aug 25, 2026. Read Oct 11, 2026. jobs.ashbyhq.com
- 10
Baseten, Data Engineer
Dated Mar 18, 2026. Read Oct 11, 2026. jobs.ashbyhq.com
- 11
Cohere, Data Engineer, Data Foundations
Dated Aug 14, 2026. Read Oct 11, 2026. jobs.ashbyhq.com
- 12
Scale AI, Senior Data Engineer, Public Sector
Dated Jul 10, 2026. Read Oct 11, 2026. job-boards.greenhouse.io