Sr. Technologist – AI Systems & Performance Lab

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Sr. Technologist to join our organization in Milpitas, United States. This role is director‑equivalent in scope and impact, with a strong emphasis on technical leadership and hands‑on innovation rather than large team management. In this pivotal role, you will establish and lead an AI Systems & Performance Lab focused on identifying and eliminating AI bottlenecks across real‑world workloads, software stacks, and diverse hardware configurations. You will define the lab’s technical vision, develop rigorous methodologies, and deliver insights that directly influence system architecture, platform strategy, and future hardware designs. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in AI workloads and system performance, paired with the ability to translate complex technical findings into clear architectural and business impact. Essential Duties and Responsibilities:  AI Lab Vision & Technical Leadership Establish and articulate a clear technical vision and charter for the AI Lab, focused on AI workload characterization and performance bottleneck analysis. Define the research agenda, success metrics, and execution model aligned with organizational objectives and future technology directions. Serve as the technical authority for AI systems performance and workload analysis. AI Workload & System Bottleneck Analysis Drive end‑to‑end analysis of AI training and inference workloads, spanning models, frameworks, runtimes, and full system stacks. Identify performance bottlenecks across compute, memory hierarchy, interconnects, storage, power, and software layers. Develop repeatable methodologies for root‑cause analysis across heterogeneous platforms (CPU, GPU, NPU, and custom accelerators). Benchmarking & Infrastructure Development Architect and oversee the development of benchmarking, profiling, and workload characterization frameworks. Evaluate AI performance across multiple hardware configurations and system topologies, ensuring rigor, reproducibility, and scalability. Establish best practices for performance measurement, regression tracking, and comparative analysis. Cross‑Functional Influence Partner closely with hardware, platform, and system architecture teams to translate workload insights into actionable design recommendations. Collaborate with AI software, product, and business teams to ensure performance findings inform roadmap and investment decisions. Influence next‑generation system and silicon direction using data‑driven insights from real workloads. Technical Mentorship & Thought Leadership Provide technical mentorship and guidance to a small, highly skilled team of engineers and researchers. Drive thought leadership through internal publications, external papers, or patents in AI systems and performance engineering. Represent the AI Lab in technical reviews, architecture forums, and executive briefings. Responsible AI & Governance Ensure AI performance research and system recommendations align with responsible and ethical AI principles. Incorporate considerations around efficiency, sustainability, and scalability into workload and system analysis. Required: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field; Master’s or PhD strongly preferred. 15+ years of industry experience in systems engineering, AI infrastructure, performance engineering, computer architecture, or hardware/software co‑design. Deep hands‑on experience with AI workloads (training and/or inference), including modern deep learning models and frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, or equivalent). Strong understanding of end‑to‑end system performance, including compute architectures, memory hierarchy, interconnects, storage, and software stacks. Proven ability to identify, analyze, and root‑cause performance bottlenecks across heterogeneous systems (CPU, GPU, NPU, accelerators). Demonstrated technical leadership with director‑level influence, driving strategy and outcomes without relying on large teams. Experience translating complex technical findings into clear architectural recommendations and business‑relevant insights. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience presenting to senior technical and executive stakeholders. Preferred: PhD or equivalent industry experience in AI systems, computer architecture, performance modeling, or large‑scale distributed systems. Hands‑on experience with AI accelerators (e.g., GPUs, NPUs, custom silicon) and their software ecosystems. Background in benchmarking, profiling, and workload characterization, including development of custom tools or frameworks. Experience influencing platform, system, or silicon roadmaps using workload‑driven, data‑backed insights. Familiarity with compiler stacks, runtimes, and low‑level performance analysis tools. Track record of technical thought leadership, including patents, publications, standards contributions, or widely adopted internal frameworks. Experience working across hardware, software, and product organizations in highly matrixed environments. Leadership & Role Fit Comfortable operating as a senior technical authority with broad organizational influence and limited direct reports. Demonstrated ability to build new technical capabilities from scratch, including labs, methodologies, and infrastructure. Strong mentoring mindset, guiding senior and junior engineers through technical depth rather than formal management. Pragmatic, results‑oriented approach with the ability to balance research rigor and product impact. Sandisk is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate against any applicant or employee based on their race, color, ancestry, religion (including religious dress and grooming standards), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), gender (including a person’s gender identity, gender expression, and gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth), age, national origin, sexual orientation, medical condition, marital status (including domestic partnership status), physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, protected medical and family care leave, Civil Air Patrol status, military and veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. We also prohibit harassment of any individual on any of the characteristics listed above. Our non-discrimination policy applies to all aspects of employment. We comply with the laws and regulations set forth in the " Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal ” poster. Our pay transparency policy is available here . Sandisk thrives on the power and potential of diversity. As a global company, we believe the most effective way to embrace the diversity of our customers and communities is to mirror it from within. We believe the fusion of various perspectives results in the best outcomes for our employees, our company, our customers, and the world around us. We are committed to an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive through a sense of belonging, respect and contribution. Sandisk is committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can successfully navigate our careers website and our hiring process. Please contact us at jobs.accommodations@sandisk.com to advise us of your accommodation request. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying. Based on our experience, we anticipate that the application deadline will be 11/03/2026 (3 months from posting), although we reserve the right to close the application process sooner if we hire an applicant for this position before the applic