Sr. Principal Software Engineer

AI That Moves the World. Careers That Move You Forward . At Cerence AI, you’ll help transform advanced AI into trusted, real-world solutions that make complex technology – think vehicles, robots, smart manufacturing, and emerging intelligent devices – more natural, reliable, and useful. Building on decades of innovation and global deployment in automotive, we are extending our expertise into new products, markets, and intelligent systems.

As part of our global team, you’ll work alongside leading innovators, researchers, engineers, and business leaders to solve meaningful challenges and turn breakthrough ideas into technology people use every day. You’ll have the opportunity to make a visible impact, help shape Cerence AI’s next chapter, and move your own career forward.

Who is Cerence AI?

Cerence AI is the global leader in AI for transportation, specialized in building AI and voice-powered companions for cars, two-wheelers, and more that enable people to focus on what matters most. With over 500 million cars shipped with Cerence AI's technology, we partner with leading automakers (such as Volkswagen, Mercedes, Audi, Toyota and many more), mobility providers, and technology companies to power intuitive, integrated experiences that create safer, more connected, and more enjoyable journeys for drivers and passengers alike.

Our Driving Force

Our team is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of AI innovation, working around the globe with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA and 16 other offices across Europe, Asia, and North America. We bring together diverse backgrounds, and varied skill sets with the shared goal of advancing the next generation of transportation user experiences. Our culture is customer-centric, collaborative, fast-paced, and fun, with continuous opportunities for learning and development to support your career growth.

Interested in having a significant impact in a dynamic industry with a high-performing global team? We’re looking for an exceptional Senior Principal Software Engineer who is ready to drive the future of mobility with us!

Job Description:

What You Will Work On

Optimize and deploy  high ‑ performance LLM inference pipelines

Own inference runtimes across  data center, edge, and embedded platforms

Push model performance through quantization, kernel fusion, and cache optimization

Drive latency and throughput improvements that directly impact production products

Enable efficient, reliable deployment without external vendor dependency

Core Responsibilities

Inference Engines & Runtime

Build deep expertise and ownership of:

vLLM

TensorRT‑LLM

llama.cpp

QAIRT

Extend and tune inference engines using  custom CUDA kernels

Adapt runtimes for constrained and embedded deployment environments

Quantization & Numerical Optimisation

Implement and evaluate quantisation strategies:

INT8, INT4, FP4, FP8, mixed precision

AWQ

GPTQ

Balance accuracy, latency, memory footprint, and throughput

KV Cache Optimization

Optimize key–value cache performance through:

Paging

Prefix caching

Cache‑aware memory layout design

Reduce memory pressure while sustaining high throughput

Latency & Throughput Optimisation

Design and tune:

Batching strategies

Continuous batching

Speculative decoding

Optimize tail latency and tokens/sec under real production traffic patterns

What Success Looks Like

Models deploy efficiently on edge and embedded devices, not just servers

Tokens/sec significantly outperform baseline implementations

End‑to‑end latency is minimized and predictable

Inference cost per request is materially reduced

The company is no longer dependent on partners for inference optimization

Required Experience & Skills

Strongly Required

Proven experience optimizing  ML inference performance in production

Deep understanding of  GPU architecture and memory hierarchies

Hands‑on experience with CUDA and low‑level performance tuning

Experience deploying models beyond research environments

Critical Technical Skills

Inference engines: vLLM, TensorRT‑LLM, llama.cpp, QAIRT

CUDA kernel development and profiling

Quantisation techniques: INT8/INT4/FP4/FP8, AWQ, GPTQ

KV cache optimisation and memory layout design

Latency optimisation: batching, speculative decoding, continuous batching

Common Problems You’ll Be Solving

Deploy efficiently on edge or embedded targets

Achieve competitive tokens/sec

Reduce and stabilize inference latency

You will be responsible for closing these gaps, creating a major competitive advantage.

What we offer

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

Salary range $185,000.00 USD - $280,000.00 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 AI (NASDAQ: CRNC) helps people and intelligent systems work together naturally and reliably. Proven at global scale in automotive, Cerence provides the trusted interaction and action layer connecting people, machines, and intelligent systems. Its AI platform enables natural interaction and dependable action across complex real-world environments where reliability, safety, security, and performance are critical. Working with customers and partners worldwide, Cerence transforms advanced AI into trusted solutions that bridge the gap between AI potential and real-world performance.

For more information, visit www.cerence.ai .

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

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.