Founding C++ Systems Developer

**About Thunder Compute:**
Thunder Compute is a YC-backed seed stage startup building the world's cheapest GPU cloud. They are building VMWare for GPUs, with a 3-person team, backed by Y-Combinator, and seed funded. Their proprietary GPU virtualization software eliminates idle GPU cycles through a mix of sharing and oversubscription. The core software network-attaches GPUs over IP through a form of API remoting, allowing allocation of compute wherever it is needed most. This presents a hard technical challenge, requiring the building of a complicated, low-level system with extremely strict performance requirements. Thunder Compute is the world's cheapest GPU cloud platform for researchers, data scientists, and indie devs, aiming to improve GPU utilization by 5x. They offer on-demand Tesla T4, A100 40GB, and A100 80GB GPUs with competitive rates, U.S. Central servers, and 7+ Gbps networking. Key features include a simple CLI for a local development feel, instance templates for common tools like Ollama and Comfy-ui, and a VS Code / Cursor extension for real-time file syncing and simplified workflow.

**About the Role:**
As the fourth team member in this Systems Engineer role, your primary responsibility will be to help build a virtualization layer with near-native performance for GPUs. This is a rare chance to directly unlock massive opportunity through technical execution, addressing a tough problem with an estimated market size well over $100B.

**Responsibilities & Technical Skills:**
*   Optimize performance of NICs and/or GPUs.
*   Demonstrate top 0.1% C++ ability.
*   Possess a strong understanding of low-level networking, compilers, or similar systems.
*   Work effectively in latency-sensitive production environments.

**Soft Skills:**
*   High potential to grow into a senior leadership position as the company expands.
*   Excellent communication skills.
*   Strong self-motivation, with an expectation to drive your own work and contribute from day one.

**Ideal Candidate:**
*   A Ph.D. or Master's degree in Computer Science from a top ~50 U.S. university with a 3.5+ GPA (Bachelor's degree is required).
*   Preferably 1+ year of industry experience at a hedge fund, hardware company (e.g., NVIDIA, SambaNova), or similar.

**Compensation & Benefits:**
This is a full-time, in-office, salaried position with significant stock options (~1-1.5% ownership). Thunder Compute is willing to move its headquarters to accommodate the right candidate. You will report directly to Co-founder and CTO Brian (an ex-Citadel quant developer). Visa sponsorship is available. Thunder GPU, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and adheres to all applicable employment laws.