Software Engineer, Reinforcement Learning, AI Infrastructure

Software Engineer, Reinforcement Learning, AI Infrastructure Tesla Motors, Inc. 140,000 - 390,000 USD paid holidays, flex time, 401(k) United States, California, Palo Alto May 02, 2026
What to Expect As a Software Engineer on Tesla AI's RL Infrastructure team, you will build the systems that make large-scale reinforcement learning fast, stable, and flexible for ML engineers working on real-world AI problems. Your work on RL training will be critical for scaling robotaxi and Optimus. We're looking for someone with practical experience in GPU inference performance, RL training infrastructure, or both. Your work will directly impact iteration speed, training throughput, system reliability, and the ability of ML engineers to move from prototype to large-scale experiments quickly. What You'll Do
Build infrastructure for large-scale reinforcement learning
Improve performance and scalability of RL workloads
Optimize training and inference latency, throughput, memory usage, and hardware utilization
Develop tools for benchmarking, profiling, debugging, and monitoring
Work closely with ML engineers to productionize new methods and workflows
Debug bottlenecks across kernels, runtimes, networking, and distributed systems
Improve system reliability, correctness, and engineering quality across the RL stack What You'll Bring
Industry experience in GPU inference, writing GPU kernels, and/or RL training infrastructure
Practical programming experience in Python and/or C/C++
Experience working with ML training frameworks (ideally PyTorch)
Strong understanding of performance engineering and distributed systems
Experience with PyTorch, CUDA, NCCL, Triton, Ray, or similar tools
Experience profiling and optimizing CPU-GPU interactions (pipelining computation with data transfers, etc.)
Proficient in system-level software, in particular hardware-software interactions and resource utilization
Ability to solve difficult systems problems with minimal oversight Compensation and Benefits
Benefits Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire: Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution
Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA
Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
Company paid Basic Life, AD&D
Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
Employee Assistance Program
Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays
Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
Tesla Babies program
Commuter benefits
Employee discounts and perks program
Expected Compensation
$140,000 - $390,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.