Performance Engineer
We’re looking for an exceptional Performance Engineer to join our growing technology organization. Interviewing at PDT is intentionally focused on finding great people who can build long-term, impactful careers with us.
Performance Engineers at PDT are responsible for deeply understanding and optimizing the systems that enable our trading strategies at scale. You will work at the intersection of software, systems, and hardware to analyze performance, drive infrastructure efficiency, and free up critical compute capacity. Your work directly amplifies researcher velocity and scales our core models, creating massive impact through both cost savings and accelerated innovation. You'll thrive at PDT if you love open-ended problems, diving into GPU optimization and system optimization/design, and are excited to take your discoveries all the way to production at scale.
This is a hybrid position and will require the person to work from our New York City office at a minimum of 3 days a week.
Why join us
PDT Partners has a stellar 30+ year track record and a reputation for excellence. Our goal is to be the best quantitative investment manager in the world, measured by the quality of our products, not their size. PDT’s very high employee-retention rate speaks for itself. Our people are intellectually extraordinary, and our community is close-knit, down-to-earth, and diverse.
Key Responsibilities
- Analyze and understand system performance to enhance researcher throughput and velocity.
- Focus on infrastructure/system-level efficiency, working across Python, PyTorch, OS, networking, storage, and CPU/GPU layers to optimize compute resource utilization
- Read and understand software layers, providing suggestions/PRs that optimize parts of codebases.
- Free up capacity and reduce costs by improving computational efficiency
- Support scaling of core models by ensuring efficient implementation
- Propose and implement systems to improve performance telemetry
- Conduct proof-of-concept (PoC) evaluations and contribute to system design
- Identify and act on optimization opportunities across the stack
Below is a list of skills and experiences we think are relevant. Even if you don’t think you’re a perfect match, we still encourage you to apply because we are committed to developing our people.
- Strong proficiency in Linux and its associated performance engineering toolset.
- Experience with PyTorch, GPUs and CUDA for optimization.
- Deep understanding and appreciation of what happens at the hardware-software interface.
- Versatile engineering mindset: ability to learn quickly, tackle diverse challenges, and adapt.
- Skills in coding, micro-optimization, and understanding multiple programming languages.
- Ability to analyze performance without being solely focused on heads-down optimization.
The salary range for this role is between $195,000 and $225,000. This range is not inclusive of any potential bonus amounts. Factors that may impact the agreed upon salary within the range for a particular candidate include years of experience, level of education obtained, skill set, and other external factors.
PRIVACY STATEMENT: For information on ways PDT may collect, use, and process your personal information, please see PDT’s privacy notices.
Skills Required
- Strong proficiency in Linux and performance engineering tools
- Experience with PyTorch, GPUs, and CUDA for optimization
- Deep understanding of hardware-software interface
- Versatile engineering mindset to learn quickly
- Skills in coding, micro-optimization, and multiple programming languages
- Ability to analyze performance beyond heads-down optimization
PDT Partners Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about PDT Partners and has not been reviewed or approved by PDT Partners.
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Career-Linked Recognition & Rewards — Compensation is framed as long-term and aligned with firm and individual performance, with upside potential through performance-linked and deferred components. This alignment can meaningfully increase total rewards in strong periods.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage spans medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance and is described as comprehensive, materially boosting total rewards. Wellness supports further complement the core coverage.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) plan with employer matching and pre-tax savings programs strengthens long-term financial benefits beyond salary and bonus. Charitable-gift matching adds additional financial-oriented support.
PDT Partners Insights
What We Do
PDT, which stands for Process Driven Trading, was founded by Peter Muller in 1993 as a proprietary trading group within Morgan Stanley. In 2013, after establishing a 19-year track record finding inefficiencies in financial markets, the group spun out of Morgan Stanley to become an independent investment management firm, PDT Partners. Today we are a leader in the field of quantitative finance, known for our rigorous scientific, systematic, and model-driven approach to investing, with multiple billions in assets under management. Peter Muller, Founder and CEO, and a small group of managing partners lead around 250 scientists, engineers, and professionals in New York and London.
