Senior Linux Systems Engineer: Kernel-User Space

Qualcomm; Piemonte; Hybrid; EUR 58,000 - 86,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Europe, Inc. Italy Branch Office seeks a Linux Plumber to bridge the kernel and user space, building robust OS-level tooling and advancing our custom Linux distribution with a mainline-first approach.

You will collaborate with Qualcomm's open-source engineers to design, implement, and maintain the distro stack (rootfs, package pipelines, image generation) while optimizing boot, init, and user-kernel boundaries across platforms.

Qualifications

• Bachelor/Master/PhD with hardware/software experience.
• Strong knowledge of Linux kernel internals and OS concepts.
• Experience with Debian packaging and distribution tooling.
• Proficiency in C, Go, or Rust and scripting languages.

Responsibilities

• Distro customization, rootfs, package pipelines, image generation.
• Upstream-first development ensuring code lands in mainline.
• Maintain and optimize Debian packaging for stability.
• Develop OS-level tooling in C/Go/Rust to interface with hardware.
• Optimize boot sequence, init, and systemd/init integration.
• Collaborate across teams to align OS plumbing with silicon features.

Skills

Linux Internals

Containerization

Systems Programming

Upstream Philosophy

User-Kernel Boundary

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Master's degree in CS/Engineering

PhD in CS/Engineering

Tools

Docker

LXC

Podman

dpkg/apt/debootstrap

Job description

Qualcomm Europe, Inc. Italy Branch Office seeks a Linux Plumber to bridge the kernel and user space, building robust OS-level tooling and advancing our custom Linux distribution with a mainline-first approach.

You will collaborate with Qualcomm's open-source engineers to design, implement, and maintain the distro stack (rootfs, package pipelines, image generation) while optimizing boot, init, and user-kernel boundaries across platforms.