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Kernel Hypervisor Software Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Senior Hypervisor and RTOS Engineer

Santa Clara, CA · On-site

$140K - $185K/yr

The Hypervisor and RTOS Team within NVIDIA DRIVE Software plays a critical role in NVIDIA ... Strong systems programming experience in C/C++ and embedded software development. Deep ...

Senior Hypervisor and RTOS Engineer

$122K - $161K/yr

The Hypervisor and RTOS Team within NVIDIA DRIVE Software plays a critical role in NVIDIA ... We are hiring now for the position of Senior System Software Engineer for Hypervisor and RTOS What ...

Senior Hypervisor and RTOS Engineer

Hillsboro, OR · On-site

$130K - $172K/yr

The Hypervisor and RTOS Team within NVIDIA DRIVE Software plays a critical role in NVIDIA ... We are hiring now for the position of Senior System Software Engineer for Hypervisor and RTOS What ...

Senior Hypervisor and RTOS Engineer

Redmond, WA · On-site

$133K - $177K/yr

The Hypervisor and RTOS Team within NVIDIA DRIVE Software plays a critical role in NVIDIA ... We are hiring now for the position of Senior System Software Engineer for Hypervisor and RTOS What ...

Senior Hypervisor and RTOS Engineer

OR · On-site +1

$119K - $157K/yr

The Hypervisor and RTOS Team within NVIDIA DRIVE Software plays a critical role in NVIDIA ... Strong systems programming experience in C/C++ and embedded software development. Deep ...

Senior Hypervisor and RTOS Engineer

Redmond, WA · On-site

$133K - $177K/yr

The Hypervisor and RTOS Team within NVIDIA DRIVE Software plays a critical role in NVIDIA ... Strong systems programming experience in C/C++ and embedded software development. Deep ...

Senior Hypervisor and RTOS Engineer

Santa Clara, CA · On-site

$140K - $185K/yr

The Hypervisor and RTOS Team within NVIDIA DRIVE Software plays a critical role in NVIDIA ... We are hiring now for the position of Senior System Software Engineer for Hypervisor and RTOS What ...

Senior Hypervisor and RTOS Engineer

$122K - $161K/yr

The Hypervisor and RTOS Team within NVIDIA DRIVE Software plays a critical role in NVIDIA ... Strong systems programming experience in C/C++ and embedded software development. Deep ...

Senior Hypervisor and RTOS Engineer

Austin, TX · On-site

$118K - $156K/yr

The Hypervisor and RTOS Team within NVIDIA DRIVE Software plays a critical role in NVIDIA ... We are hiring now for the position of Senior System Software Engineer for Hypervisor and RTOS What ...

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Showing results 1-20

Kernel Hypervisor Software Engineer information

What does a kernel hypervisor software engineer do?

A Kernel Hypervisor Software Engineer designs, develops, and maintains the software that enables virtualization at the operating system kernel level. They work on hypervisors, which allow multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single physical machine by managing hardware resources. Their responsibilities include optimizing performance, ensuring security, fixing bugs, and adding new features to virtualization platforms. They often collaborate with hardware engineers and other software teams to ensure seamless integration and compatibility.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a kernel hypervisor software engineer?

To thrive as a Kernel Hypervisor Software Engineer, you need a strong background in computer science, expertise in C/C++ programming, and deep knowledge of operating system kernels and virtualization concepts. Familiarity with tools and platforms such as KVM, Xen, VMware, QEMU, and debugging utilities like GDB is typically required, along with experience using version control systems like Git. Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving ability, and effective collaboration are crucial soft skills that set top engineers apart. These skills are essential for building secure, high-performance virtualization solutions and ensuring seamless integration within complex system environments.

What are the primary challenges kernel hypervisor software engineers face when integrating new hardware support into virtualization platforms?

Kernel Hypervisor Software Engineers often encounter challenges related to hardware compatibility and performance optimization when integrating new hardware into virtualization platforms. This requires in-depth knowledge of both kernel-level programming and the latest processor architectures, along with close collaboration with hardware vendors and QA teams. Debugging and resolving low-level issues can be complex, as they may involve coordinating with upstream open-source communities and staying current with evolving hardware standards. Successful engineers need to be comfortable troubleshooting difficult bugs and adapting to rapidly changing technology environments.

What are popular job titles related to Kernel Hypervisor Software Engineer jobs?

For Kernel Hypervisor Software Engineer jobs, the most frequently searched job titles are:

Infographic showing various Kernel Hypervisor Software Engineer job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 88% Full Time, 8% Part Time, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 88% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 9% Remote job distribution.

Staff Software Engineer - Hypervisor

San Diego, CA • On-site

Qualcomm
Technology, Communication and Media • 10K+ employees

Full-time

Re-posted 11 days ago


Qualcomm rating

8.8

Company rating: 8.8 out of 10

Based on 11 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz


Job description

Company:
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Job Area:
Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering
General Summary:
Qualcomm is looking for talented and enthusiastic engineers with strong interests in OS, kernel and computer architecture. The Qualcomm Hypervisor team is world-leading, enabling virtualization across multiple chipset products for mobile, automotive, compute and IoT. The team is responsible for the hypervisor software layers that plays a key role in platform security and performance. Qualcomm is industry leading in its adoption of virtualization technology in its Snapdragon mobile products. The team has built hypervisor and SMMU expertise and continues to develop innovative features, enhancements, and use-cases. As a software engineer at Qualcomm, you will help develop SMMU, hypervisor and related software for the latest cutting-edge Application processors, which is embedded in a wide range of chipset products and used by many OEMs in millions of devices. The role will include interfacing with large software stacks such as Bootloaders, Linux and TrustZone - which provides the opportunity to interact with teams around the world. -- Responsibilities We are looking for a highly motivated engineer and team player who is passionate to learn new technologies and write low level firmware that drives hardware and SoC.
Your responsibilities may include, but not limited to,
  • Design, development and integration of SoC firmware features, diagnostics and test capabilities for QCT boot platforms.
  • Strong coordination and collaboration across wide range of technical areas to include software, hardware, ASIC, integration, architecture, and emulation teams.
  • Paying attention to the details during all phases of firmware design, development, integration, testing and release - Work with Emulation, HW design teams, as necessary, in verifying and debugging firmware, driver and resolving platform issues
  • Efficient and secure (ie. cognizant of not exposing security exploits) coding plus driving code review of firmware logic updates with all required stakeholders
  • On time execution of defined tasks and deliverables, driving dependencies with other teams to closure
  • Triage of software issues, defect investigation and problem resolution.
  • Technical documentation including APIs, manuals, and user guides. -
  • Skills and Experience We are looking for engineers from a range of backgrounds and experience, including graduates and experienced kernel and systems developers.

Skills that may be relevant
  • Strong understanding or experience with C.
  • An understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, and kernels. Linux, kernel, bootloader or OS development experience.
  • ARM CPU architecture knowledge. IOMMU and ARM SMMU knowledge Hypervisors and virtualization.
  • Experience with multi-processing or multi-threading, concurrency, and synchronization. Writing device drivers and interfacing hardware.
  • Experience with secure coding.
  • Use of debugging tools such as GDB, Lauterbach Trace32 and understanding assembly. Real-time OS. Toolchains and systems libraries (libc etc).
  • Python, shell scripting and Linux based development environment.
  • Good communication and presentation skills.
  • Test development and test automation.
  • Contributing to open-source projects.

Demonstrated independent software design, good analytic and problem-solving skills. Any automotive and functional safety experience may also be relevant
Qualcomm is looking for talented and enthusiastic engineers with strong interests in OS, kernel and computer architecture. The Qualcomm Hypervisor team is world-leading, enabling virtualization across multiple chipset products for mobile, automotive, compute and IoT. The team is responsible for the hypervisor software layers that plays a key role in platform security and performance. Qualcomm is industry leading in its adoption of virtualization technology in its Snapdragon mobile products. The team has built hypervisor and SMMU expertise and continues to develop innovative features, enhancements, and use-cases. As a software engineer at Qualcomm, you will help develop SMMU, hypervisor and related software for the latest cutting-edge Application processors, which is embedded in a wide range of chipset products and used by many OEMs in millions of devices. The role will include interfacing with large software stacks such as Bootloaders, Linux and TrustZone - which provides the opportunity to interact with teams around the world. -- Responsibilities We are looking for a highly motivated engineer and team player who is passionate to learn new technologies and write low level firmware that drives hardware and SoC.
Your responsibilities may include:
  • Design, development and integration of SoC firmware features, diagnostics and test capabilities for QCT boot platforms.
  • Strong coordination and collaboration across wide range of technical areas to include software, hardware, ASIC, integration, architecture, and emulation teams.
  • Paying attention to the details during all phases of firmware design, development, integration, testing and release - Work with Emulation, HW design teams, as necessary, in verifying and debugging firmware, driver and resolving platform issues
  • Efficient and secure (ie. cognizant of not exposing security exploits) coding plus driving code review of firmware logic updates with all required stakeholders
  • On time execution of defined tasks and deliverables, driving dependencies with other teams to closure
  • Triage of software issues, defect investigation and problem resolution.
  • Technical documentation including APIs, manuals, and user guides.
  • Skills and Experience We are looking for engineers from a range of backgrounds and experience, including graduates and experienced kernel and systems developers.

Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 3+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience.
• 2+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc.
Preferred Qualifications:
  • Master's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
  • 4+ years of Software Engineering experience.
  • 1+ year of work experience with Git, Perforce, or Source Code Management System.
  • Strong understanding or experience with C.
  • An understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, and kernels. Linux, kernel, bootloader or OS development experience.
  • ARM CPU architecture knowledge. IOMMU and ARM SMMU knowledge Hypervisors and virtualization.
  • Experience with multi-processing or multi-threading, concurrency, and synchronization. Writing device drivers and interfacing hardware.
  • Experience with secure coding.
  • Use of debugging tools such as GDB, Lauterbach Trace32 and understanding assembly. Real-time OS. Toolchains and systems libraries (libc etc).
  • Python, shell scripting and Linux based development environment.
  • Good communication and presentation skills.
  • Test development and test automation.
  • Contributing to open-source projects.
  • Demonstrated independent software design, good analytic and problem-solving skills. Any automotive and functional safety experience may also be relevant.

Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation during the application/hiring process, rest assured that Qualcomm is committed to providing an accessible process. You may e-mail disability-accomodations@qualcomm.com or call Qualcomm's toll-free number found here. Upon request, Qualcomm will provide reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities to be able participate in the hiring process. Qualcomm is also committed to making our workplace accessible for individuals with disabilities. (Keep in mind that this email address is used to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. We will not respond here to requests for updates on applications or resume inquiries).
To all Staffing and Recruiting Agencies: Our Careers Site is only for individuals seeking a job at Qualcomm. Staffing and recruiting agencies and individuals being represented by an agency are not authorized to use this site or to submit profiles, applications or resumes, and any such submissions will be considered unsolicited. Qualcomm does not accept unsolicited resumes or applications from agencies. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Qualcomm employees or any other company location. Qualcomm is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes/applications.
EEO Employer: Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or any other protected classification.
Qualcomm expects its employees to abide by all applicable policies and procedures, including but not limited to security and other requirements regarding protection of Company confidential information and other confidential and/or proprietary information, to the extent those requirements are permissible under applicable law.
Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:
$134,800.00 - $202,200.00
The above pay scale reflects the broad, minimum to maximum, pay scale for this job code for the location for which it has been posted. Even more importantly, please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Qualcomm. We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales-incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus). In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that Qualcomm has to offer - and you can review more details about our US benefits at this link.
If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.

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About Qualcomm

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Qualcomm is enabling a world where everyone and everything can be intelligently connected. You interact with products and technologies made possible by Qualcomm every day, including 5G-enabled smartphones that double as pro-level cameras and gaming devices, smarter vehicles and cities, and the technology behind the smart, connected factories that manufactured your latest purchase. Our powerful connectivity solutions keep you connected—even in remote areas. Qualcomm 5G and AI innovations are the power behind the connected intelligent edge. You’ll find our technologies behind and inside the innovations that deliver significant value across multiple industries and to billions of people every day.

Industry

Technology, communication and media

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

San Diego, CA, US

Year founded

1985