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Kernel Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Arista Networks

Linux Kernel Software Engineer

Santa Clara, CA · On-site

$123K - $191K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

Kernel software engineers are also responsible for the CPU subsystems on all Arista products. You will evaluate new CPUs and work with CPU vendors to integrate their kernel support into EOS. You will ...

AMD

Linux Kernel SW Engineer

Austin, TX · On-site

They are seeking a Senior Linux Kernel SW Engineer to join their server software and solutions engineering team, where the role involves enabling AMD x86-64 architecture features in Linux and ...

CoreWeave

Systems Engineer, Kernel

New York, NY

$165K - $242K/yr

CoreWeave is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Systems Kernel Engineer to join our HAVOCK Team, reporting into the Manager of Systems Engineering. In this role, you will be a key contributor to ...

CoreWeave

Systems Engineer, Kernel

Livingston, NJ · On-site

$165K - $242K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

CoreWeave is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Systems Kernel Engineer to join our HAVOCK Team, reporting into the Manager of Systems Engineering. In this role, you will be a key contributor to ...

Typesafe AI

GPU Kernel Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$180K - $280K/yr

  • Medical

  • Retirement

About the role We're looking for a GPU kernel engineer with deep, low-level CUDA expertise to make our training and inference faster and more efficient. You'll write and optimize custom kernels ...

Crusoe

Senior Staff Linux Kernel Engineer

Sunnyvale, CA · On-site

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

You will tackle the most complex kernel problems while mentoring and growing the engineers around you to deliver production-ready infrastructure at scale. What You'll Be Working On: * Virtualization ...

New

NIO

Senior OS/Kernel Engineer

San Jose, CA

$143K - $186K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About the Position We are seeking a senior OS / kernel engineer to join our SkyOS team. The team is responsible for the design and development of NIO's full-domain vehicle operating systems. The ...

NIO

Senior OS/Kernel Engineer

San Jose, CA · On-site

$143K - $186K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About the Position We are seeking a senior OS / kernel engineer to join our SkyOS team. The team is responsible for the design and development of NIO's full-domain vehicle operating systems. The ...

NIO USA, INC

Senior OS/Kernel Engineer

San Jose, CA · On-site

$122K - $168K/yr

About the Position We are seeking a senior OS / kernel engineer to join our SkyOS team. The team is responsible for the design and development of NIO's full-domain vehicle operating systems. The ...

Crusoe

Senior Staff Linux Kernel Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

You will tackle the most complex kernel problems while mentoring and growing the engineers around you to deliver production-ready infrastructure at scale. What You'll Be Working On: * Virtualization ...

New

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All JobsKernel Engineer Jobs

Kernel Engineer information

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a kernel engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Kernel Engineer, you need deep expertise in C programming, operating system concepts, and low-level hardware interactions, typically supported by a degree in computer science or related fields. Familiarity with version control systems (like Git), debugging tools (such as GDB), and kernel development frameworks is crucial. Problem-solving, attention to detail, and effective communication are standout soft skills in this role. These skills enable the creation of reliable, efficient, and secure kernels that form the backbone of computing systems.

What is the difference between Kernel Engineer vs Device Driver Developer?

AspectKernel EngineerDevice Driver Developer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or higher in Computer Science, Linux/Unix knowledge, programming skills in C/C++Similar credentials, often with specialized knowledge in hardware and driver development
Work EnvironmentSystem-level development, kernel code, Linux/Unix environmentsHardware interaction, driver coding, embedded or OS-specific environments
Industry UsageOperating system development, open-source projects, hardware manufacturersHardware companies, embedded systems, OS vendors
Common Search/ComparisonKernel EngineerDevice Driver Developer

Kernel Engineers focus on developing and maintaining the core kernel of operating systems, ensuring system stability and performance. Device Driver Developers specialize in creating software that allows hardware components to communicate with the OS. While both roles require similar technical skills and often overlap, Kernel Engineers work on the entire kernel infrastructure, whereas Device Driver Developers concentrate on specific hardware interfaces.

What is a kernel engineer?

A Kernel Engineer is a software engineer who specializes in the development, maintenance, and optimization of operating system kernels, such as Linux or Windows. Their primary responsibilities include designing new kernel features, fixing bugs, improving performance, and ensuring compatibility with hardware. They often work closely with hardware manufacturers and other software developers to build stable and secure system foundations. Kernel Engineers must have a deep understanding of operating system internals, low-level programming (typically in C or C++), and computer architecture. This role is critical for maintaining and advancing the core components that allow computers and devices to function efficiently.

Are kernel engineers in demand?

Kernel engineers are in high demand due to the critical role they play in developing and maintaining operating system kernels, especially in areas like embedded systems, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. Companies seek professionals with expertise in C, C++, and Linux kernel development to improve system performance and security, making this a strong job market for qualified candidates.

What are some typical challenges kernel engineers face when working on operating system updates?

Kernel Engineers often encounter challenges related to maintaining system stability and compatibility when implementing updates or new features. Ensuring that changes do not introduce regressions or security vulnerabilities requires thorough testing and collaboration with QA and other engineering teams. Additionally, Kernel Engineers need to keep up-to-date with hardware advancements and support a wide range of devices, which can add complexity to their work. Effective communication and strong problem-solving skills are essential for navigating these challenges and delivering high-quality code.
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Kernel Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Kernel Engineer job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 92% Full Time, 2% Part Time, and 6% Contract. Highlights an 86% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 9% Remote job distribution.

Kernel Engineer (Compute / Accelerator)

DensityAI

Mountain View, CA • On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 13 days ago

Job description

Job Summary:
DensityAI is a company focused on AI technology, and they are seeking a Kernel Engineer to write and optimize compute kernels for a custom AI accelerator. The role involves collaborating with architecture and compiler teams to ensure high performance of ML workloads on hardware.
Responsibilities:
• Write and optimize compute kernels for a custom AI accelerator — tensor operations, data movement patterns, memory hierarchy exploitation
• Develop and maintain profiling infrastructure to measure kernel performance against architectural targets
• Define and document shuffle patterns for ML kernel primitives across CPU-like control, tensor cores, and CUTLASS-style operations
• Drive kernel DSL design decisions — thread spawn mechanisms, register passing conventions, and memory management strategies
• Enable end-to-end kernel execution on the architectural simulator
• Collaborate with the compiler team on the MLIR dialect — your kernels are the primary validation target
• Create onboarding documentation and kernel writing guides for the broader team
Qualifications:
Required:
• C/C++ — production-grade systems code, not scripted glue. You'll write performance-critical kernels.
• CUDA or equivalent accelerator programming — deep experience writing GPU kernels, understanding warp/wavefront execution, memory coalescing, shared memory optimization. The mental model transfers directly.
• Computer architecture — you need to reason about pipelines, memory hierarchies, data movement costs, and how software maps to hardware.
• Performance profiling and optimization — you live in profilers. Identifying bottlenecks, measuring throughput, and iterating until kernels meet targets is the core loop.
• Tensor operations — practical understanding of GEMM, convolution, attention, reduction, and scatter/gather as they map to hardware.
• Python — for scripting, DSL integration, and profiling automation.
Preferred:
• RISC-V, x86, or ARM64 ISA experience
• MLIR or LLVM compiler infrastructure
• HPC or scientific computing background (large-scale parallel compute intuition)
• FPGA or Verilog/SystemVerilog (ability to read RTL and reason about the hardware you're targeting)
• Familiarity with CUTLASS, Triton, or similar kernel libraries
Company:
DensityAI is an infrastructure for data centers serving automotive, robotics, and industrial applications Founded in 2025, the company is headquartered in Mountain View, USA, with a team of 51-200 employees. The company is currently Early Stage.

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