Senior Performance Engineer

Shape how frontier AI models reason about performance — from a remote setup in India, paid in USD.

A leading AI lab is building the next generation of Large Language Models, and the training data behind those models is only as sharp as the engineers writing it. That's where you come in.

We're hiring Performance Engineers with deep expertise in C++, Python, and Rust to help train AI systems on systems-level optimization, compiler engineering, and runtime performance — the kind of work most engineers only get to touch at FAANG-scale infra teams.

The opportunity

• Pay: $35–$45/hour (USD)
• Commitment: 30–40 hours/week, weekdays
• Location: Fully remote from India
• Employment: W-2 contingent role through Cincinnatus LLC, placed at a leading AI lab's GenAI team
• Start: Immediate

What you'll actually do

Your work won't be ticket-based engineering. You'll be the technical authority that helps an AI lab close knowledge gaps in their models:

• Design challenging, domain-relevant performance engineering problems and write the reference solutions yourself
• Evaluate AI-generated solutions against your own technical bar and explain — in writing — where the model got it wrong and why
• Build rubrics and evaluation frameworks that assess systems design quality across AI workloads (training pipelines, inference servers, memory-bound kernels)
• Partner with other senior engineers to keep training-data quality consistent across specializations

What we're looking for

• 2+ years of dedicated professional experience in performance engineering, systems programming, or low-level optimization

Browse our curated collection of remote jobs across all categories and industries, featuring positions from top companies worldwide.

• Deep hands-on expertise in at least one of C++, Python, or Rust — working familiarity with the others is a strong plus
• A demonstrable track record of measurable performance wins on production systems — latency reduction, throughput gains, memory footprint optimization, you have numbers you can point to
• Clear career progression from a strong engineering org
• Strong written communication — you can defend a technical decision in prose, not just code

Why this role is unusual

Most performance engineering work is invisible — you shave 12% off a hot path, the company saves money, and three people notice. Here, your reasoning becomes part of the training signal for a frontier model used by millions. The work is judgment-heavy and intellectually open-ended, and the rate reflects that.

This role is sourced through Mercor (the ~$10B AI hiring platform that runs technical evaluations for frontier AI labs). Para AI Labs is the partner channel — apply through us and we'll route you straight to the role.

About Cincinnatus LLC: Cincinnatus LLC is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for contingent and contract-based opportunities. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W-2 employment, payroll, benefits, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high-impact initiatives.