Linux Kernel Engineer

Apple Inc

Confirmed live yesterday Trusted

Quick summary

Work type
On-site
Location
Durham, NH
Posted
2 days ago
Freshness
Confirmed live yesterday

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How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $180k
$134k most similar roles pay here $223k

This listing doesn't post a salary. Most similar roles pay $145,975–$214,000.

Based on 240 similar postings.

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About Apple Inc

Apple Inc. is a multinational technology company known for designing and manufacturing consumer electronics, software, and online services, including the iPhone, Mac, iPad, and App Store. Industry: Consumer Electronics & Software

Apple Inc currently has 2305 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $175,000–$280,000 across 1873 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Linux Kernel Engineer

As a Linux Kernel Engineer on the Linux Kernel Engineering team, you will manage the end-to-end kernel lifecycle, including CI infrastructure, automated validation, driver enablement, and production-quality releases. You will design and operate pipelines to compile and test kernels across various hardware platforms and distributions while triaging regressions, investigating crashes, and qualifying new hardware at the kernel layer. The role involves collaborating with platform, infrastructure, and SRE teams to ensure system stability and performance for critical services. Required skills include deep expertise in C, along with proficiency in Rust, Go, Python, or Bash. You will utilize tools like perf, ftrace, bpftrace, crash, and gdb to debug issues. Experience includes RHEL environments, RPM packaging, and kernel tuning across subsystems such as memory management, networking, and scheduling to ensure high-quality production releases.

What you'll do

  • Design, build, and operate CI and validation pipelines for Linux kernels across multiple hardware platforms.
  • Triage kernel regressions and investigate crashes or performance issues to drive fixes to resolution.
  • Qualify new hardware at the kernel layer to ensure stability and performance.
  • Port, maintain, and upstream device drivers for various hardware components.
  • Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of production-quality Linux kernel releases.
  • Perform deep kernel debugging using tools like perf, ftrace, bpftrace, crash, and gdb.
  • Tune kernel subsystems to optimize performance and stability for real-world workloads at scale.
  • Manage RHEL-based environments including RPM packaging and kernel backporting processes.

What we're looking for

  • Bachelor of Computer Science or equivalent skills and work experience.
  • At least 5+ years of experience developing or maintaining the Linux kernel or low-level system software.
  • Proven ability to debug kernel level issues using tools such as perf, ftrace, bpftrace, crash, gdb, or similar.
  • Deep understanding of kernel tuning for stability and performance across multiple subsystem domains.
  • Hands-on experience developing CI/CD systems integrating operating system components and managing kernel releases.
  • Strong programming skills in C, plus proficiency in at least one of Rust, Go, Python, or Bash.
  • Solid understanding of operating system fundamentals including memory management, filesystems, networking, and hardware interactions.
  • Experience working in a RHEL based Linux environment, including RPM packaging and the RHEL kernel back port process.
  • Proven track record of upstream contributions to the Linux kernel project or similar upstreams (preferred).

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