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Member of Technical Staff, Performance Optimization

Fireworks AI San Mateo, CA Full-time Engineering Posted Mar 5, 2026
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What it’s like to work at Fireworks AI

LLM Inference Platform · Redwood City

4.2
Employee Rating
3.3
Work-Life Balance
30
Open Roles
eng-drivenship-fastmany-hatslearning

What employees love

  • World-class team of ex-Meta AI infrastructure engineers — technically very strong peers
  • Working on LLM inference optimization which is one of the hottest areas in AI infrastructure

What could be better

  • Early-stage startup intensity with long hours expected and high performance bar
  • Small team and rapidly evolving product means less structure, process, and career laddering
View full Fireworks AI culture profile →

About the Role

About Us:

At Fireworks, we’re building the future of generative AI infrastructure. Our platform delivers the highest-quality models with the fastest and most scalable inference in the industry. We’ve been independently benchmarked as the leader in LLM inference speed and are driving cutting-edge innovation through projects like our own function calling and multimodal models. Fireworks is a Series C company valued at $4 billion and backed by top investors including Benchmark, Sequoia, Lightspeed, Index, and Evantic. We’re an ambitious, collaborative team of builders, founded by veterans of Meta PyTorch and Google Vertex AI.

The Role:

We're looking for a Software Engineer focused on Performance Optimization to help push the boundaries of speed and efficiency across our AI infrastructure. In this role, you'll take ownership of optimizing performance at every layer of the stack—from low-level GPU kernels to large-scale distributed systems. A key focus will be maximizing the performance of our most demanding workloads, including large language models (LLMs), vision-language models (VLMs), and next-generation video models.

You’ll work closely with teams across research, infrastructure, and systems to identify performance bottlenecks, implement cutting-edge optimizations, and scale our AI systems to meet the demands of real-world production use cases. Your work will directly impact the speed, scalability, and cost-effectiveness of some of the most advanced generative AI models in the world.

Key Responsibilities:

Minimum Qualifications:

Preferred Qualifications:

Example projects:

Total compensation for this role also includes meaningful equity in a fast-growing startup, along with a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package. Base salary is determined by a range of factors including individual qualifications, experience, skills, interview performance, market data, and work location. The listed salary range is intended as a guideline and may be adjusted.

Base Pay Range (Plus Equity)
$175,000$220,000 USD

Why Fireworks AI?

  • Solve Hard Problems: Tackle challenges at the forefront of AI infrastructure, from low-latency inference to scalable model serving.
  • Build What’s Next: Work with bleeding-edge technology that impacts how businesses and developers harness AI globally.
  • Ownership & Impact: Join a fast-growing, passionate team where your work directly shapes the future of AI—no bureaucracy, just results.
  • Learn from the Best: Collaborate with world-class engineers and AI researchers who thrive on curiosity and innovation.

Fireworks AI is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all innovators.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the work-life balance like at Fireworks AI?
Fireworks AI has a work-life balance score of 3.3/5 based on employee reviews. This is below average, which may indicate a fast-paced, demanding work environment.
What is Fireworks AI’s culture like?
Fireworks AI is characterized by these culture values: eng-driven, ship-fast, many-hats, learning. Based on employee reviews, the company has an overall rating of 4.2/5. World-class team of ex-Meta AI infrastructure engineers — technically very strong peers
How many open roles does Fireworks AI have?
Fireworks AI currently has 30 open roles across departments including engineering, product, sales, and more. Roles are refreshed daily from their careers page.
Is this role remote-friendly?
This role is located in San Mateo, CA. Check the job description above for specific location and remote work details.
Apply for this role at Fireworks AI →