Senior Principal AI Engineer

What You Will Work On

Design and operate distributed training systems for large neural networks (autoregressive, diffusion, State Space Models etc.) across GPU clusters

Optimise multi‐node, multi‐GPU execution to maximize throughput and utilization

Diagnose & resolve bottlenecks across compute, memory, and network

Improve training stability and fault tolerance at scale

Partner with research and applied ML teams to productionize large‐model training pipelines

Core Responsibilities

Distributed Training Infrastructure

Build and optimize GPU cluster orchestration using:

Slurm

Kubernetes

Ray

RunAI

Ensure efficient scheduling, isolation, and fairness across training workloads

Communication & Networking

Optimize and debug distributed communication using:

NCCL

RDMA

InfiniBand

NVLink

Minimize networking bottlenecks that dominate end‐to‐end training time

Training Frameworks

Scale large-model training using:

PyTorch Distributed

Megatron‐LM

DeepSpeed

Own multi‐node launch configurations, failure recovery, and performance tuning

Memory & Performance Optimization

Apply advanced memory optimization techniques:

Activation checkpointing

ZeRO (Stage 1–3) and offload strategies

Balance compute, memory, and communication to push model size and batch scale

What Success Looks Like

GPU utilization consistently stays high (>80–90%)

Training scales cleanly from single node to dozens or hundreds of GPUs

Communication overhead is minimized and predictable

Large training jobs run stably for days or weeks without failure

New models can be trained faster, larger, and more reliably than before

Required Experience & Skills

Strongly Required

Deep hands‐on experience with distributed systems or ML systems

Experience running large‐scale workloads on GPU clusters

Production experience with PyTorch distributed training

Strong understanding of parallelism strategies (data, tensor, pipeline parallelism)

Low‐level understanding of GPU communication and networking

Critical Technical Skills

GPU orchestration: Slurm, Kubernetes, Ray, RunAI

Communication libraries: NCCL, RDMA, InfiniBand, NVLink

Training frameworks: PyTorch Distributed, Megatron‐LM, DeepSpeed

Memory optimisation: activation checkpointing, ZeRO offload techniques

Common Problems You’ll Be Solving

Many teams fail at scale because:

GPU utilization is low despite large clusters

Networking and communication dominate training time

Training jobs crash or become unstable at large scale

You will be explicitly focused on eliminating these failure modes.

Ideal Background

This role is a strong fit for individuals who have worked as:

ML Systems Engineer

Distributed Systems Engineer

AI Infrastructure Engineer

HPC Engineer transitioning into ML

Experience working with large language models or foundation models is a strong plus, but deep systems expertise is valued over pure model architecture experience.

Why This Role Matters

Without robust distributed training infrastructure, progress on large models stalls. This role directly enables:

Larger models

Faster iteration cycles

More reliable research-to-production pipelines

You will be building the foundation that makes large‐scale AI possible.

What we offer

We offer a generous compensation and benefits package (in addition to the base salary), including:

· Salary range $141,400.00 USD - $226,300.00 USD It is not typical for offers to be made at or near the top of the range. The actual salary will be determined based on experience and other job-related factors.

· Annual bonus opportunity

· Insurance coverage (medical, dental, vision, life, and disability)

· Paid time off

· Paid holidays

· Company contribution to the 401K

· Equity awards for certain positions and levels

· Remote and/or hybrid work available depending on the position

All compensation and benefits are subject to the terms and conditions of the underlying plans or programs, as applicable, and may be amended, terminated, or replaced from time to time.

Cerence Inc. (Nasdaq: CRNC and www.cerence.com ) is the global industry leader in creating unique, moving experiences for the automotive world. Spun out from Nuance in October 2019, Cerence is a new, independent company that has quickly gained traction as a leader in the automotive voice assistant space, working with all of the world’s leading automakers – from Ford and Fiat Chrysler to Daimler, Audi and BMW to Geely and SAIC – to transform how a car feels, responds and learns. Its track record is built on more than 20 years of industry experience and leadership and more than 500 million cars on the road today across more than 70 languages.

As Cerence looks to the future and continues an ambitious growth agenda, we need someone to join the team and help build the future of voice and AI in cars. This is an exciting opportunity to join Cerence’s passionate, dedicated, global team and be a part of meaningful innovation in a rapidly growing industry.

Cerence is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex, sex stereotyping, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, protected military or veteran status, genetic information and other protected classifications. Cerence Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

All prospective and current Employees need to remain vigilant when it comes to executing security policies in the workplace. This includes:

Following workplace security protocols and training programs to familiarize with the ways to maintain a safe workplace. - Following security procedures to report any suspicious activity. - Having respect for corporate security procedures to allow those procedures to be effective. - Adhering to company's compliance and regulations. - Encouraging to follow a zero tolerance for workplace violence.

Basic knowledge of information security and data privacy requirements (e.g., how to protect data & how to be handling this data).

Demonstrative knowledge of information security through internal training programs.