Software Performance Engineer

WHAT YOU DO AT AMD CHANGES EVERYTHING 

At AMD, our mission is to build great products that accelerate next-generation computing experiences—from AI and data centers, to PCs, gaming and embedded systems. Grounded in a culture of innovation and collaboration, we believe real progress comes from bold ideas, human ingenuity and a shared passion to create something extraordinary. When you join AMD, you’ll discover the real differentiator is our culture. We push the limits of innovation to solve the world’s most important challenges—striving for execution excellence, while being direct, humble, collaborative, and inclusive of diverse perspectives. Join us as we shape the future of AI and beyond.  Together, we advance your career.  

THE ROLE:

Join a highly specialized Software Performance Engineering team that sits at the intersection of cutting-edge silicon and real-world application performance. In this high-impact role, you will work alongside some of the industry’s top CPU architects, compiler experts, and performance specialists to unlock the full potential of AMD platforms across key applications and benchmarks.

This position offers the opportunity to dive deep into modern processor architecture, analyze complex workloads, and influence both current optimizations and future product design. You’ll collaborate directly with strategic software partners, contribute to open-source communities, and help shape performance leadership for next-generation computing. The environment is fast paced, highly collaborative, and driven by curiosity, data, and innovation ideal for someone who loves solving hard problems and seeing their work translate into measurable, real-world gains.

THE PERSON:

You are naturally curious about how things work under the hood and are energized by chasing down performance opportunities others might miss. You bring a data-driven mindset, strong problem-solving skills, and the ability to translate deep technical findings into clear recommendations for both internal teams and external partners.

You thrive in collaborative, cross-functional environments and are comfortable working with architects, developers, and industry partners to co-engineer solutions. A self-starter with a passion for continuous learning, you stay ahead of trends in software, hardware, and algorithms and enjoy turning complex analysis into meaningful performance wins.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Analyze application and benchmark behavior to uncover performance strengths, gaps, and bottlenecks on AMD platforms
• Design and implement optimizations, workarounds, and tuning strategies
• Partner with architecture teams to influence future CPU designs
• Collaborate with software vendors and contribute improvements to the open-source ecosystem
• Drive a data-focused methodology to prioritize and measure performance impact

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:

• Background in identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks
• Strong programming in C/C
• Experience with CPU profiling and performance analysis tools
• Understanding of SIMD/vector instruction sets
• Knowledge of modern concurrency and threading models
• Familiarity with CPU microarchitecture concepts
• Experience with modern version control systems
• Ability to collaborate effectively with external partners

Bonus:

• Development of highly parallel algorithms or applications
• Power and performance tuning techniques
• Compiler optimizations and toolchains
• x86/x64 assembly and low-level performance analysis
• Scripting or interpreted languages
• Exposure to both Windows and Linux environments

ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field preferred

LOCATION: Austin, Texas (Open to Santa Clara) 

This role is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship

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Benefits offered are described:  AMD benefits at a glance.

AMD does not accept unsolicited resumes from headhunters, recruitment agencies, or fee-based recruitment services. AMD and its subsidiaries are equal opportunity, inclusive employers and will consider all applicants without regard to age, ancestry, color, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religion, political and/or third-party affiliation, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.   We encourage applications from all qualified candidates and will accommodate applicants’ needs under the respective laws throughout all stages of the recruitment and selection process.

AMD may use Artificial Intelligence to help screen, assess or select applicants for this position.  AMD’s “Responsible AI Policy” is available here.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.