Principal Software Engineer - GPU & Velox Architecture

Introduction

At IBM Software, we transform client challenges into solutions. Building the world's leading AI-powered, cloud-native products that shape the future of business and society. Our legacy of innovation creates endless opportunities for IBMers to learn, grow, and make an impact on a global scale. Working in Software means joining a team fueled by curiosity and collaboration. You'll work with diverse technologies, partners, and industries to design, develop, and deliver solutions that power digital transformation. With a culture that values innovation, growth, and continuous learning, IBM Software places you at the heart of IBM's product and technology landscape. Here, you'll have the tools and opportunities to advance your career while creating software that changes the world.

Your role and responsibilities

This is a high-impact leadership role pairing directly with the Principal Architect to bridge the gap between GPU hardware acceleration and the Velox execution engine. You will define how Presto utilizes GPU resources for next-gen performance.

Responsibilities:

· Lead the architectural design for bridging GPU compute capabilities with the Velox C++ execution library.

· Collaborate with Presto/Velox architects to define interfaces for heterogeneous computing (CPU/GPU hybrid execution).

· Drive technical decision-making and roadmap planning for the GPU acceleration track.

· Mentor senior engineers and provide technical guidance on C++ internals and vectorization.

Required technical and professional expertise

· 10+ years of software engineering experience, with deep expertise in C++.

· Strong background in Database Internals (Query Execution, Optimizers, Vectorized Processing, columnar processing etc ).

· Experience with GPU architecture (CUDA/ROCm) or integrating hardware accelerators into distributed systems.

· Ability to navigate complex large-scale C++ codebases (e.g., Velox, ClickHouse, Arrow).

· Ability to contribute to design documents and architectural discussions, and to work effectively across a distributed engineering team.

Preferred technical and professional experience

· Experience with Velox / Presto / Trino

· Knowledge of resource management (resource groups, scheduling)

· Experience with fault tolerance / retry mechanisms

· Contributions to open-source systems

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.