How to hire a senior performance engineer

How to hire a senior performance engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior performance engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a senior performance engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior performance engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior performance engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a senior performance engineer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect senior performance engineer also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of senior performance engineers.

   Type of Senior Performance Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Performance Engineer		$39-70
   Quality Analyst	Pumpers are individuals who take responsibility for setting the pumping system controls for product maximization. Their job requires them to set density, concentration, rate, and pressure... Show more	$26-44
   Tester	The role of technical testers is to test computer software for defects, bug errors, or any issues that may come across by an end-user. They mainly conduct product testing and prepare reports about any problems or recommendations for improvements... Show more	$20-47

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Java
   • JMeter
   • Linux
   • Test Results
   • Performance Issues
   • Splunk
   • Profiling
   • Macro
   • Dynatrace
   • Test Scripts
   • Unix
   • Web Services
   • CPU
   • Test Data

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Perform inter-departmental audits documenting ISO compliant results with associate corrective action requests in order to achieve company-wide certification.
   • Prepare test cases, test plan base on the non functional business requirements for retail domain java base application.
   • Used DynaTrace to monitor the server and narrow down on the performance bottlenecks.
   • Diagnose performance bottlenecks in Java.
   • Used JIRA for bug management.
   • Conduct profiling analysis and create reports.

   More senior performance engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior performance engineer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A senior performance engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a senior performance engineer in Kentucky may be lower than in California, and an entry-level senior performance engineer usually earns less than a senior-level senior performance engineer. Additionally, a senior performance engineer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average senior performance engineer salary

   $110,382yearly

   $53.07 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior performance engineer salary

   $83,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average senior performance engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$150,634	$72
   2	Washington	$117,297	$56
   3	Arizona	$111,210	$53
   4	New Jersey	$109,145	$52
   5	Texas	$109,055	$52
   6	Massachusetts	$106,506	$51
   7	New York	$105,272	$51
   8	Rhode Island	$104,743	$50
   9	Delaware	$103,351	$50
   10	Illinois	$102,067	$49
   11	Virginia	$101,119	$49
   12	Pennsylvania	$99,294	$48
   13	New Hampshire	$98,600	$47
   14	North Carolina	$98,510	$47
   15	Ohio	$96,988	$47
   16	Colorado	$95,685	$46
   17	Florida	$94,697	$46
   18	District of Columbia	$94,638	$46
   19	Georgia	$94,112	$45
   20	Indiana	$88,252	$42

   Average senior performance engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Netflix	$162,827	$78.28	1
   2	Google	$161,474	$77.63	184
   3	ICE Mortgage Technology	$159,123	$76.50
   4	Anaplan	$158,259	$76.09	1
   5	Safeway	$155,271	$74.65
   6	Apple	$154,678	$74.36	217
   7	MongoDB	$150,791	$72.50	29
   8	NVIDIA	$150,738	$72.47	133
   9	Veeva Systems	$150,733	$72.47	69
   10	Cruise Automation	$148,660	$71.47
   11	Box	$145,000	$69.71	1
   12	Move	$144,853	$69.64
   13	BlackLine	$144,613	$69.53	2
   14	Classy	$144,376	$69.41
   15	SoFi	$143,190	$68.84	34
   16	Barnes & Noble	$138,674	$66.67	2
   17	Über	$138,463	$66.57	43
   18	Intuit	$137,698	$66.20	7
   19	American Tower	$137,108	$65.92
   20	Amazon	$136,073	$65.42	257

4. Writing a senior performance engineer job description

   A job description for a senior performance engineer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior performance engineer job description:

   Senior performance engineer job description example

   Leading the future in luxury electric and mobility
   At Lucid, we set out to introduce the most captivating, luxury electric vehicles that elevate the human experience and transcend the perceived limitations of space, performance, and intelligence. Vehicles that are intuitive, liberating, and designed for the future of mobility.
   
   We plan to lead in this new era of luxury electric by returning to the fundamentals of great design - where every decision we make is in service of the individual and environment. Because when you are no longer bound by convention, you are free to define your own experience.
   
   Come work alongside some of the most accomplished minds in the industry. Beyond providing competitive salaries, we're providing a community for innovators who want to make an immediate and significant impact. If you are driven to create a better, more sustainable future, then this is the right place for you.
   
   We are currently seeking a Sr. Android Performance Engineer to join our Vehicle Infotainment team. This position requires designing, implementing, and delivery of framework components for in-vehicle software system. Our ideal candidate exhibits a can-do attitude and approaches his or her work with vigor and determination. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate excellence in their respective fields, to possess the ability to learn quickly and to strive for perfection within a fast-paced environment.
   The Role:Design, implement, and deliver framework components for in-vehicle software system Work with application software engineers, user experience team and BSP/kernel team to create a modular and extensible system Work with other ECU teams in the company to deliver end-to-end project functionality Work with 3rd parties, especially tier1 vendors to integrate and develop corresponding features for in-vehicle software system Diagnose, analyze, and resolve relevant issues based on testing, and user validation
   Qualifications:5+ years of industry experience in Android development and/or embedded Linux environment, and proven industry experience of shipping Android software products Good understanding of Android frameworks including the general application framework and native framework Good understanding of Android performance optimization tools and methods Experience in analyzing and fixing issues for system/app bootup time, memory leaking, ION memory usage, system crashes etc.Ability to lead and help system and App design to follow best performance practices Experience coding with C, C++ (C++ 11/14/17 preferred) , and Java
   Preferred:Experience in automotive especially infotainment system is optional but preferred
   Education:Bachelors or Masters in the areas of Computer Science, Computer engineering, Electrical engineering or other related fields
   At Lucid, we don't just welcome diversity - we celebrate it! Lucid Motors is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, marital status, and any other characteristic protected under applicable State or Federal laws and regulations.
   
   Notice regarding COVID-19 protocols
   At Lucid, we prioritize the health and wellbeing of our employees, families, and friends above all else. In response to the novel Coronavirus all new Lucid employees, whose job will be based in the United States may or may not be required to provide original documentation confirming status as having received the prescribed inoculation (doses). Vaccination requirements are dependent upon location and position, please refer to the job description for more details.
   
   Individuals in positions requiring vaccinations may seek a medical and/or religious exemption from this requirement and may be granted such an accommodation after submitting a formal request to and the subsequent review and approval thereof by our dedicated Covid-19 Response team.
   
   To all recruitment agencies: Lucid Motors does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our careers alias or other Lucid Motors employees. Lucid Motors is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find senior performance engineers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior performance engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit senior performance engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit senior performance engineers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a senior performance engineer applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new senior performance engineer

   Once you have selected a candidate for the senior performance engineer position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new senior performance engineer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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