{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"b9491098e4c10b4545ab0bfe","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/b9491098e4c10b4545ab0bfe","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/b9491098e4c10b4545ab0bfe","title":"Staff Software Engineer - Linux Kernel","description":"Fastly's Kernel and Host Networking team builds and operates the Linux kernel running across their global edge network. As a Staff Software Engineer, you will own technical problems end-to-end—from kernel crashes and hardware enablement through design, implementation, and fleet rollout—spanning networking, XDP, eBPF, memory, performance, and distributed systems consistency.\r\nWhat You'll Do\r\nSet technical direction for kernel projects and mentor engineers; own projects end-to-end from problem statement through fleet rollout\r\nBring new servers, CPUs and NICs from first boot to full fleet deployment: develop drivers, configure IRQ affinity, RSS and queue layout on high core count hosts\r\nImprove datapath and transport performance using XDP, eBPF and IETF-specified protocols; debug cross-layer issues with application teams\r\nDevelop and maintain kernel changes and Fastly kernel modules on long-term kernel branches; reduce private delta by upstreaming contributions\r\nOwn kernel production health: triage crashes, WARNs and regressions across the fleet, identify root causes and ship fixes; lead on-call rotation and incident response\r\nWhat You Need\r\n7+ years of related engineering experience including substantial production C, with 3+ years leading technical projects\r\nProduction Linux kernel development experience, including debugging use-after-free, refcount and leak bugs with KASAN, kdump, ftrace, perf or bpftrace\r\nWorking knowledge of the Linux scheduler and memory management (EEVDF, memcg)\r\nExperience managing a kernel patch stack and collaborating with upstream communities\r\nSolid understanding of the Linux network stack (TCP/IP, sk_buff lifecycle, qdiscs, NIC drivers) and XDP or eBPF with deep expertise in at least one area\r\nNice to Have\r\nUpstream kernel contributions or subsystem maintainership\r\nDeep knowledge of transport protocols from IETF RFCs: QUIC, TCP, ECN, L4S, MASQUE\r\nHardware enablement on AMD EPYC or Intel platforms and NIC driver experience (mlx5, ice, i40e)\r\nExperience with load balancing, traffic steering systems, CDN or large edge network environments; container networking with network namespaces, veth, cgroups and eBPF-based CNI datapaths\r\n$211,370–$253,644 per year; equity and discretionary bonus programs; comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision; family planning, mental health support, life/disability/accident insurance; 401(k) with company match, ESPP, flexible vacation, 18 days accrued paid sick leave, 11 paid holidays, 12 paid wellness days#J-18808-Ljbffr","company":"Linuxcareers","rawCompany":"linuxcareers","city":"Brooklyn","state":"NY","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-10-10T01:22:50.000Z","occupations":[{"code":"15-1299.08","title":"Computer Systems Engineers/Architects","slug":"computer-systems-engineers-architects"},{"code":"15-1252.00","title":"Software Developers","slug":"software-developers"},{"code":"15-1244.00","title":"Network and Computer Systems Administrators","slug":"network-and-computer-systems-administrators"}],"industries":[{"code":"513210","title":"Software Publishers","slug":"software-publishers"},{"code":"541512","title":"Computer Systems Design Services","slug":"computer-systems-design-services"},{"code":"541511","title":"Custom Computer Programming Services","slug":"custom-computer-programming-services"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Staff Software Engineer - Linux Kernel","description":"Fastly's Kernel and Host Networking team builds and operates the Linux kernel running across their global edge network. As a Staff Software Engineer, you will own technical problems end-to-end—from kernel crashes and hardware enablement through design, implementation, and fleet rollout—spanning networking, XDP, eBPF, memory, performance, and distributed systems consistency.\r\nWhat You'll Do\r\nSet technical direction for kernel projects and mentor engineers; own projects end-to-end from problem statement through fleet rollout\r\nBring new servers, CPUs and NICs from first boot to full fleet deployment: develop drivers, configure IRQ affinity, RSS and queue layout on high core count hosts\r\nImprove datapath and transport performance using XDP, eBPF and IETF-specified protocols; debug cross-layer issues with application teams\r\nDevelop and maintain kernel changes and Fastly kernel modules on long-term kernel branches; reduce private delta by upstreaming contributions\r\nOwn kernel production health: triage crashes, WARNs and regressions across the fleet, identify root causes and ship fixes; lead on-call rotation and incident response\r\nWhat You Need\r\n7+ years of related engineering experience including substantial production C, with 3+ years leading technical projects\r\nProduction Linux kernel development experience, including debugging use-after-free, refcount and leak bugs with KASAN, kdump, ftrace, perf or bpftrace\r\nWorking knowledge of the Linux scheduler and memory management (EEVDF, memcg)\r\nExperience managing a kernel patch stack and collaborating with upstream communities\r\nSolid understanding of the Linux network stack (TCP/IP, sk_buff lifecycle, qdiscs, NIC drivers) and XDP or eBPF with deep expertise in at least one area\r\nNice to Have\r\nUpstream kernel contributions or subsystem maintainership\r\nDeep knowledge of transport protocols from IETF RFCs: QUIC, TCP, ECN, L4S, MASQUE\r\nHardware enablement on AMD EPYC or Intel platforms and NIC driver experience (mlx5, ice, i40e)\r\nExperience with load balancing, traffic steering systems, CDN or large edge network environments; container networking with network namespaces, veth, cgroups and eBPF-based CNI datapaths\r\n$211,370–$253,644 per year; equity and discretionary bonus programs; comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision; family planning, mental health support, life/disability/accident insurance; 401(k) with company match, ESPP, flexible vacation, 18 days accrued paid sick leave, 11 paid holidays, 12 paid wellness days#J-18808-Ljbffr","datePosted":"2026-10-10T01:22:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-10T01:22:50.000Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Linuxcareers","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Brooklyn","addressRegion":"NY","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"b9491098e4c10b4545ab0bfe"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/b9491098e4c10b4545ab0bfe"}}