Senior Systems Software Engineer, Base Os - Kernel

NVIDIA NVIDIA · Semiconductors · CA · Remote

This role focuses on architecting and enabling the NVIDIA Vera Superchip for enterprise customers, optimizing the Base OS (derived from Ubuntu) for AI and HPC platforms. The engineer will act as a technical point of contact for Tier-1 customers, solve complex kernel challenges in massive-scale deployments, and lead hardware bring-up from pre-silicon to production stability. Responsibilities include designing automated test suites for kernel validation and long-range architectural planning. Requires expert-level C programming, deep understanding of core OS concepts (memory management, interrupt handling, process scheduling), and experience with large-scale NUMA systems. Nice-to-haves include experience debugging large clusters, Linux kernel contributions, CI/CD automation, PCIe Gen5/6, CXL, ARM64, and virtualization stacks.

What you'd actually do

  1. Architect and Enable: Drive the enablement of the NVIDIA Vera Superchip for enterprise customers, ensuring the Base OS, which is derived from Ubuntu and ships on DGX systems, is optimized for the next generation of AI and HPC platforms.
  2. Tier-1 Partner Collaboration: Act as a primary technical point of contact for Tier-1 customers, working directly with their engineering teams to enable and optimize their internal Linux distributions on NVIDIA hardware.
  3. Hyperscale Problem Solving: Solve complex kernel challenges unique to massive-scale deployments, including high core counts, multi-terabyte memory footprints, and multi-rack system interconnects with NVIDIA specific architectures..
  4. Hardware Bring-up: Partner with Hardware and Firmware teams to lead the bring-up of new platforms, from Pre-Silicon simulation to OS boot and production stability.
  5. Automated Engineering: Design and implement fully automated test suites to validate kernel stability and performance, ensuring that "quality" is a built-in feature of our development lifecycle.

Skills

Required

  • BS/MS in Computer Science, EE, or equivalent experience
  • 8+ years of professional experience in Linux kernel development or low-level systems
  • Expert-level C programming skills
  • deep understanding of concurrency, locking primitives, and synchronization in large-scale NUMA systems
  • Strong knowledge of core OS concepts: memory management (MMU/IOMMU), interrupt handling, and process scheduling at scale
  • Collaborative Attitude
  • Critical Thinking

Nice to have

  • Proven track record of debugging and resolving kernel issues in large-cluster environments or systems with high processor density
  • active contributor to the Linux Kernel (LKML) or other major open-source projects
  • Experience developing CI/CD pipelines or fully automated validation frameworks for low-level system software
  • Deep background in PCIe Gen5/6, CXL, and ARM64 (v8/v9) privilege levels and memory models
  • Expertise in virtualization stacks (KVM/QEMU) and I/O virtualization (SR-IOV, SMMU)

What the JD emphasized

  • Linux kernel development
  • low-level systems
  • Systems Mastery
  • Expert-level C programming skills
  • deep understanding of concurrency, locking primitives, and synchronization in large-scale NUMA systems
  • Subsystem Expertise
  • Strong knowledge of core OS concepts: memory management (MMU/IOMMU), interrupt handling, and process scheduling at scale
  • Scale Experience
  • Proven track record of debugging and resolving kernel issues in large-cluster environments or systems with high processor density