Lead Principal Core Infrastructure Engineer

Oracle Corporation; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Oracle Corporation in Seattle is seeking an hands-on system software engineer to develop next‑generation DPUs and DPDK‑based networking stacks close to hardware. You will work on performance‑critical Linux‑based software, memory management, and kernel drivers for high‑speed cloud networking.

The role emphasizes low‑level programming, hardware‑software co‑design, and collaboration with cross‑functional Oracle teams to drive scalable, reliable networking infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Experience with systems programming in C, C++, Rust, or similar low‑level languages.
• Strong understanding of Linux operating system internals.
• Experience with networking protocols, packet processing, or high‑performance network programming.
• Familiarity with embedded systems, SmartNICs, DPUs, programmable hardware accelerators, or hardware‑adjacent software development.
• Ability to debug complex software issues across operating system, driver, firmware, and hardware boundaries.
• Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work effectively in a highly technical engineering environment.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement high performance, highly available system software components – DPDK-based networking stack, hardware abstraction layers, and custom hardware acceleration stacks.
• Leverage C/C++ expertise in building network virtualization, high performance packet processing and protocol parsers.
• Leverage Linux OS expertise to manage memory, scheduling, I/O virtualization, kernel drivers and security features of the DPUs.
• Collaborate with senior architects and peers across Compute, Storage, OS and Security groups across Oracle, to lead and drive project execution.

Skills

C/C++/Rust

Linux internals

Networking protocols

Embedded systems / SmartNICs / DPUs

Debugging across OS/driver/firmware/hw

Team collaboration

Job description

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is growing rapidly as one of the world’s major cloud platforms. The expansion of AI, machine learning, and traditional enterprise workloads is creating new demands for cloud infrastructure, from silicon to system software to the boundary where hardware and software meet.

The Virtual Networking Data Plane team within OCI builds highly customizable Virtual Cloud Network data plane services on industry-leading programmable SmartNICs and DPUs. Our work enables predictable performance, secure isolation, and high availability for OCI customers at cloud scale.

We are in the middle of a generational transformation in cloud infrastructure, and we are looking for exceptional systems engineering talent to help shape what comes next.

This is an exciting opportunity for a hands‑on system software engineer who enjoys building low‑level software close to the hardware. Domain‑specific processors and programmable hardware accelerators are becoming central to modern cloud infrastructure, especially as data centers evolve to support AI‑ready, efficient, and sustainable computing workloads.

In this role, you will help develop software for next‑generation programmable DPUs that are foundational to OCI’s networking platform. You will work on performance‑critical systems where Linux internals, hardware‑software co‑design, and high‑performance networking come together.

Internal Responsibilities

• Architect and implement high performance, highly available system software components – DPDK-based networking stack, hardware abstraction layers, and custom hardware acceleration stacks.
• Leverage C/C++ expertise in building network virtualization, high performance packet processing and protocol parsers.
• Leverage Linux OS expertise to manage memory, scheduling, I/O virtualization, kernel drivers and security features of the DPUs.
• Collaborate with senior architects and peers across Compute, Storage, OS and Security groups across Oracle, to lead and drive project execution.

Why Join Us

You will be part of a team building the foundation of OCI’s next generation cloud networking platform. The work is technically deep, highly impactful, and central to the future of cloud infrastructure. You will have the opportunity to solve challenging systems problems at scale while helping build infrastructure that supports the next wave of AI, enterprise, and cloud-native workloads.

Required Qualifications

• Expertise with systems programming in C, C++, Rust, or similar low‑level languages.
• Strong understanding of Linux operating system internals.
• Experience with networking protocols, packet processing, or high‑performance network programming.
• Familiarity with embedded systems, SmartNICs, DPUs, programmable hardware accelerators, or hardware‑adjacent software development.
• Ability to debug complex software issues across operating system, driver, firmware, and hardware boundaries.
• Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work effectively in a highly technical engineering environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing software for SmartNICs, DPUs, NIC drivers, kernel networking, or user‑space packet processing frameworks.
• Knowledge of virtualization, cloud networking, SDN, or distributed systems.
• Experience with performance tuning, concurrency, memory management, or low‑latency systems.
• Background in hardware‑software co‑design or close collaboration with silicon, platform, or firmware teams.

External Responsibilities

• Architect and implement high performance, highly available system software components – DPDK-based networking stack, hardware abstraction layers, and custom hardware acceleration stacks.
• Leverage C/C++ expertise in building network virtualization, high performance packet processing and protocol parsers.
• Leverage Linux OS expertise to manage memory, scheduling, I/O virtualization, kernel drivers and security features of the DPUs.
• Collaborate with senior architects and peers across Compute, Storage, OS and Security groups across Oracle, to lead and drive project execution.

Why Join Us

You will be part of a team building the foundation of OCI’s next generation cloud networking platform. The work is technically deep, highly impactful, and central to the future of cloud infrastructure. You will have the opportunity to solve challenging systems problems at scale while helping build infrastructure that supports the next wave of AI, enterprise, and cloud-native workloads.

Required Qualifications

• Expertise with systems programming in C, C++, Rust, or similar low‑level languages.
• Strong understanding of Linux operating system internals.
• Experience with networking protocols, packet processing, or high‑performance network programming.
• Familiarity with embedded systems, SmartNICs, DPUs, programmable hardware accelerators, or hardware‑adjacent software development.
• Ability to debug complex software issues across operating system, driver, firmware, and hardware boundaries.
• Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work effectively in a highly technical engineering environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing software for SmartNICs, DPUs, NIC drivers, kernel networking, or user‑space packet processing frameworks.
• Knowledge of virtualization, cloud networking, SDN, or distributed systems.
• Experience with performance tuning, concurrency, memory management, or low‑latency systems.
• Background in hardware‑software co‑design or close collaboration with silicon, platform, or firmware teams.