Techniques for scheduling processing tasks in a device having multiple computing elements are disclosed. A network interface controller of the device receives processing tasks, for execution on the computing elements, from a network that is external to the device. The network interface controller schedules the tasks for execution on the computing devices based on policy data available to the network interface controller. A scheduler within the network interface controller, which can be implemented as a standalone processing unit (such as a microcontroller, a programmable processing core, or an application specific integrated circuit), performs such scheduling, thereby freeing the central processing unit of the device from the burden of performing scheduling operations. The scheduler schedules the tasks according to any technically feasible scheduling technique.