Member of Technical Staff - Kernel/BSP

Aptiv; Periyapatna; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Named Top Workplace for the 10th year

DEIB commitment

Birthday and Volunteer Time Off

Competitive Salary & Benefits Package

Extensive Learning Programs

Wellness benefits through Unmind

Job summary

Wind River is seeking a senior technical staff member to own architecture decisions across the Yocto build system, Linux kernel, and multiple BSPs for a safety-critical embedded Linux platform.

You will lead across kernel, BSPs, and build tooling, solving cross-layer problems spanning kernel, BSP, templates, and customer field deployments, while mentoring the team and driving upstream strategy.

Qualifications

• BE/BTech or ME/MTech in CS/ECE/EE or equivalent; 8-12 years in embedded Linux.
• Deep expertise in Linux kernel architecture, drivers, debugging, and C; strong Python for tooling; C++ a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own kernel maintenance across LTS lines including backports, CVE remediation, stable-rebases, and local patches where upstream isn’t available.
• Debug deep kernel, driver, networking, and boot issues across ARM/x86 and PPC/RISC-V with GDB/JTAG, ftrace, and perf.
• Drive determinism, real-time (PREEMPT_RT), and reliability improvements for safety-critical use.

Skills

Linux kernel development

Yocto/OpenEmbedded

C/C++ programming

Python scripting

BSP/multi-board bring-up

OSS/upstream

CI/CD

GDB/JTAG debugging

ARM/x86 virtualization

Agile methodologies

Education

BE/BTech or ME/MTech in CS/ECE/EE or equivalent

Tools

GDB

JTAG

Job description

About Wind River

Wind River is a global leader in delivering software for mission-critical intelligent systems. For more than four decades, the company has been an innovator and pioneer, powering billions of systems that require the highest levels of security, safety, and reliability.

Wind River helps customers across automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, and telecommunications industries solve complex technology challenges on their journey toward the new intelligent machine economy. The company’s software powers generation after generation of the safest, most secure systems in the world. Examples include playing a key role in NASA space missions such as Artemis I, the James Webb Space Telescope, and multiple Mars rovers. We’ve achieved recent 5G milestones including the world’s first successful 5G data session with Verizon and building one of the largest Open RAN networks in the world with Vodafone.

The company has received industry recognition for its technology innovation and leadership, and for its workplace culture, including global Great Place to Work certification and being named a “Top Workplace” for ten consecutive years. If you want to be part of a unique culture where the lived experience is based on our cultural attributes of growth mindset, customer-focus, and diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging, come join us and help advance the future software defined world.

About The Role

As a Member of Technical Staff on the Wind River Linux team, you are the senior technical anchor for a safety-critical embedded Linux platform. You own architecture-level decisions across the Yocto build system, Linux kernel, and multiple BSPs, drive the OSS/upstream strategy, and act as the technical force‑multiplier who makes the whole team better. This is a hands‑on technical leadership role, you set direction and still solve the hardest problems yourself.

You are the person the team leans on when a cross‑layer, cross‑repo problem spans the kernel, the BSP, the build system, and a customer's field deployment all at once.

What You'll Do

Linux Kernel & Low-Level Development

• Own kernel maintenance across LTS lines: backports, CVE remediation, stable-rebases, and local‑patch discipline where upstream isn’t an option.
• Debug deep kernel, driver, networking, and boot issues across ARM/x86 (and PPC/RISC-V where relevant) using GDB, JTAG, ftrace/kernel tracing, and perf tooling.
• Drive determinism, real-time (PREEMPT_RT), and reliability improvements that hold up under safety‑critical scrutiny.

Multi-BSP & Yocto Build System

• Serve as technical expert across multiple BSPs (Intel x86, ARM/Zynq MP, NXP i.MX, TI, NVIDIA Tegra, and the growing edge‑AI board set) machine configs, kernel provider resolution, layer architecture, and platform bring‑up.
• Own the Yocto/OpenEmbedded architecture: layers, templates,bblayers/local.confbehavior, recipe design, and the build‑farm topology that produces the release matrix.
• Resolve the cross‑layer, cross‑repo problems (recipe + BSP + kernel + template interactions) that no single track owner can close alone.

OSS & Upstream

• Define and drive the upstream strategy, what we push upstream vs. carry as local patches, and represent WRLinux technical direction in OSS communities.
• Champion upstream‑first CVE handling and reduce the local‑patch maintenance burden over time.

Release Engineering & Quality

• Own the reliability of release‑critical systems: OOBE/Sanity gates, the CVE‑verification pipeline, SBOM/IP flow, and the CI that ties them together.
• Make and be accountable for architecture calls on the tooling migration (source host, CI, issue tracking) and the CVE‑automation stack.
• Drive AI‑native engineering, CVE triage, test generation, build diagnosis, as the person who builds the workflows the team runs on, not just consumes them.

Technical Leadership & Mentoring

• Provide technical direction, design reviews, and code reviews that raise the whole team's bar.
• Mentor engineers and compress their ramp‑up under an AI‑paired model.
• Remove single points of failure by documenting and systematizing product knowledge.
• Support customer escalations as the deep technical specialist of last resort.

What You Bring

• BE/BTech or ME/MTech in CS/ECE/EE or equivalent; 8-12 years in embedded Linux.
• Deep expertise in Linux kernel (architecture, drivers, debugging) and C; strong Python for tooling/automation; C++ a plus.
• Extensive hands‑on Yocto/OpenEmbedded and BSP experience, multi‑board bring‑up, layer/recipe architecture, hardware‑software integration.
• Proven technical leadership and mentoring of engineering teams.
• Strong debugging with GDB, JTAG, kernel tracing, and performance tooling.
• Familiarity with ARM/x86 (PPC/RISC‑V a plus), networking, and virtualization.
• Agile + CI/CD fluency; Git/Linux daily driver.
• Excellent communication and cross‑functional stakeholder skills; effective in a globally distributed team.

Nice to Have

• OSS/upstream contribution track record (kernel or Yocto layers).
• Edge‑AI inference stacks on embedded silicon (TensorRT, OpenVINO, ONNX Runtime, TF Lite).

WHY JOIN US?

In a world increasingly driven by software innovation, Wind River is pioneering the technologies that accelerate the digital transformation of our customers with a new generation of mission-critical AI systems - built for an AI-first world with the most exacting safety, security, performance, and reliability standards. Our success depends on our ability to innovate with velocity and deliver solutions that help customers solve their toughest challenges.

Wind River is a global leader in mission-critical intelligent systems. For more than four decades, we have been an innovator and pioneer, powering billions of systems that demand the highest levels of security, safety, and reliability. We support customers across automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, and telecommunications industries as they build the next generation of intelligent machines.

Wind River’s technology has supported historic achievements - from NASA’s Artemis I and the James Webb Space Telescope to multiple Mars rovers, as well as the world’s first successful 5G data session with Verizon and one of the largest Open RAN networks with Vodafone.

With industry recognition for innovation, leadership, and workplace excellence—including global Great Place to Work certification and being named a “Top Workplace” for ten straight years—Wind River offers a culture built on growth mindset, customer focus, and diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging.

Your Benefits At Wind River

• Named Top Workplace for the 10th year in a row
• Wind River’s strong commitment to DEIB
• Birthday and Volunteer Time Off
• Competitive Salary & Benefits Package
• Extensive Learning Programs
• Wellness benefits through Unmind

Wind River is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to diversity. We prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation or any other legally protected status.

Privacy Notice - Active Candidates: https://www.aptiv.com/privacy-notice-active-candidates

Aptiv is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.