Boston, Massachusetts, United States Yesterday $144k – $205k
Linux Kernel & OS Development Jobs
Kernel and OS developers work at the lowest level of the software stack, working in the Linux kernel itself or in OS-adjacent systems software. This elite track covers kernel subsystem development, scheduler and memory management work, security modules, file system drivers, and deep systems programming. Roles are scarce, competitive, and among the most technically demanding in all of software.
Warsaw, Poland 5d ago Not disclosed
Bristol, United Kingdom 5d ago Not disclosed
Remote, APAC; Beijing, China; Taipei, Taiwan 5d ago Not disclosed
Mountain View, California, United States May 27 $189k – $303k
Bristol, United Kingdom May 22 Not disclosed
Pocatello, Idaho, United States May 21 Not disclosed
Warsaw, Poland May 21 PLN 20k – PLN 33k
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India May 21 Not disclosed
Remote May 21 Not disclosed
Remote, Worldwide May 21 Not disclosed
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India May 21 Not disclosed
Thornhill, Toronto, Ontario, Canada May 21 Not disclosed
San Jose, California, United States May 21 Not disclosed
Taipei, Taiwan May 21 Not disclosed
FA
Seoul, South Korea May 21 Not disclosed
Santa Clara, California, United States May 21 Not disclosed
San Francisco, California, United States May 21 Not disclosed
Paris, France May 21 Not disclosed
Warsaw, Poland May 21 Not disclosed
Frequently Asked Questions
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Linux kernel developers write and maintain code that runs in kernel space: adding new hardware support via drivers, improving subsystems (scheduler, memory management, networking, block layer, filesystems), fixing bugs, improving security, and contributing patches to the upstream Linux kernel on LKML. Some work on out-of-tree kernel modules for specific products.
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Expert-level C programming is mandatory. Kernel code has strict style rules and no standard library. Deep understanding of computer architecture (x86, ARM), virtual memory, process scheduling, interrupt handling, synchronisation primitives (spinlocks, mutexes, RCU), and the kernel build system (Kbuild). Familiarity with LLVM/Clang kernel compilation and BPF is increasingly valued.
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The traditional path is contributing patches to the upstream kernel via LKML. Start with bug fixes or documentation improvements, then tackle subsystem work. The Linux Foundation's Kernel Mentorship Program and LFX mentorship provide structured entry points. Some companies (Red Hat, Canonical, Intel, Google) hire kernel developers and support upstream contributions as part of the job.
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Red Hat, Canonical, SUSE, Intel, Google, Meta, Oracle, IBM, ARM, Qualcomm, Samsung, and major cloud providers all employ kernel engineers. Semiconductor vendors need kernel developers to upstream support for new hardware. Any company selling Linux-based products (from network appliances to consumer electronics) needs kernel expertise.