Demo

Founding C++ Systems Engineer

Thunder Compute
San Francisco, CA Full Time
POSTED ON 11/20/2025
AVAILABLE BEFORE 12/20/2025
Company

Thunder Compute is the lowest cost, easiest GPU cloud for developers. We’re a 4-person team with $4.5M raised from top tier investors including Y Combinator.\ \ There are two parts to our company. 1) we are a cloud platform where customers can rent GPUs just like they would from Coreweave, Lambda, AWS, etc., and 2) we are building virtualization software to use GPUs 3x more efficiently than these competitors.\ \ This huge efficiency gain allows our cloud to run at higher margins than competitors without any CapEx.

Role

You'll work on the C core of our virtualization stack: performance optimization, systems debugging, and research into oversubscription, checkpointing, and related problems.

You will spend your days bouncing between the weeds of complex, performance-critical systems in production, and implementing customer-facing product improvements. This work is not easy - but if you’re the right candidate, this is a feature, not a bug.

Core Technical Skills

  • Top 0.1% C ability
  • Experience optimizing NIC/GPU performance
  • Deep understanding of low-level networking, compilers, and similar systems
  • Experience in latency-sensitive environments

Must Haves

  • You’ve got the dog in you: you will own your work and be responsible for production systems from day 1
  • High speed-to-output
  • Willingness to assume a senior leadership role as we scale
  • Strong communication skills under pressure

Preferred

  • CS Bachelor’s degree from top 50 US university, 3.5 GPA
  • 1 year of experience at a trading firm (Citadel, Jane Street, etc.), hardware company (NVIDIA, SambaNova), systems research or similar

Logistics

  • You'll report to Co-founder/CTO Brian (ex-Citadel quant dev)
  • This role is full-time, in-person in SF

Salary : $170,000 - $210,000

If your compensation planning software is too rigid to deploy winning incentive strategies, it’s time to find an adaptable solution. Compensation Planning
Enhance your organization's compensation strategy with salary data sets that HR and team managers can use to pay your staff right. Surveys & Data Sets

What is the career path for a Founding C++ Systems Engineer?

Sign up to receive alerts about other jobs on the Founding C++ Systems Engineer career path by checking the boxes next to the positions that interest you.
Income Estimation: 
$117,024 - $149,811
Income Estimation: 
$137,568 - $176,908
Income Estimation: 
$95,407 - $122,738
Income Estimation: 
$118,163 - $145,996
Income Estimation: 
$120,777 - $151,022
Income Estimation: 
$129,363 - $167,316
Income Estimation: 
$86,891 - $130,303
Income Estimation: 
$120,777 - $151,022
Income Estimation: 
$145,845 - $177,256
Income Estimation: 
$147,836 - $182,130
Income Estimation: 
$154,597 - $194,610
Income Estimation: 
$86,891 - $130,303
Income Estimation: 
$147,836 - $182,130
Income Estimation: 
$172,688 - $210,712
Income Estimation: 
$170,589 - $211,671
Income Estimation: 
$178,619 - $225,190
Income Estimation: 
$86,891 - $130,303
Income Estimation: 
$79,571 - $98,965
Income Estimation: 
$89,966 - $112,616
Income Estimation: 
$95,407 - $122,738
Income Estimation: 
$103,114 - $138,258
Income Estimation: 
$86,891 - $130,303
View Core, Job Family, and Industry Job Skills and Competency Data for more than 15,000 Job Titles Skills Library

Not the job you're looking for? Here are some other Founding C++ Systems Engineer jobs in the San Francisco, CA area that may be a better fit.

Founding Engineer, ML Performance & Systems

Stealth, San Francisco, CA

Founding Engineer, ML Performance & Systems

Stealth, San Francisco, CA

AI Assistant is available now!

Feel free to start your new journey!