Linux BSP and Distro Image, Sr. Manager

Ampere; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 226,000 - 339,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401K retirement plan

Unlimited flextime

Job summary

Ampere is seeking a hands-on Linux BSP and Distro Image Sr. Manager to lead a team responsible for embedded Linux BSPs, distro images, and software packages for Ampere platforms.

You will guide OS engineers through bring-up, product development, and sustaining activities with silicon, firmware, validation, and ecosystem partners. The ideal candidate will have 12+ years in Embedded Linux, strong leadership, and deep experience with Yocto/OpenEmbedded, kernel, and open-source collaboration.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of relevant experience in embedded Linux, BSP development, and platform bring-up.
• Demonstrated experience leading engineering teams and coaching engineers.
• Strong background in Embedded Linux, Linux distributions, BSP development, and platform bring-up.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of OS engineers for BSPs, distro images, and platform software.
• Set direction and priorities for BSP and image development in support of Ampere products.
• Collaborate with silicon, firmware, validation, and ecosystem teams for pre- and post-silicon bring-up.

Skills

Embedded Linux

Yocto Project

OpenEmbedded

C programming

Python

Bash

Linux kernel

Git

Kernel and drivers debugging

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/CE/EE or related

Master’s degree

PhD

Tools

U-Boot

UEFI

CI/CD tooling

Linux packaging

Device Tree

Job description

Invent the future with us.

Ampere is a semiconductor design company for a new era, leading the future of computing by developing SoCs and platform solutions focused on high-performance, energy efficient AI compute. As a pioneer in the new frontier of energy efficient high-performance computing, Ampere is part of the Softbank Group of companies driving sustainable AI compute for cloud, edge, and physical applications.

Description

Invent the future with us.

Ampere is a semiconductor design company for a new era, leading the future of computing by developing SoCs and platform solutions focused on high-performance, energy efficient AI compute. As a pioneer in the new frontier of energy efficient high-performance computing, Ampere is part of the Softbank Group of companies driving sustainable AI compute for cloud, edge, and physical applications.

AI is showing up in essentially every part of the technology landscape, and we’re focused on delivering the performance, efficiency, and reliability those workloads require. Ampere is building compute silicon and platforms for AI applications spanning a broad range of industries. We focus on solving exciting challenges in areas such as robotics and automotive, among others, but the core of our work is enabling efficient AI at scale and across multiple application domains.

About The Role

Ampere is seeking a hands-on Linux BSP and Distro Image Sr. Manager to lead a team responsible for developing, maintaining, and supporting Embedded Linux Board Support Packages (BSPs), distribution images, and software packages for Ampere platforms.

In this role, you will combine technical leadership with people management, guiding a team of operating-system engineers through platform bring-up, product development, and sustaining activities. You will work closely with silicon, firmware, performance, validation, and ecosystem partners to enable Ampere’s current and future products.

The ideal candidate is passionate about Embedded Linux, open-source development, system bring-up, and building high-performing engineering teams.

What You’ll Achieve

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of operating-system engineers responsible for Linux BSPs, distro images, and platform software.
• Establish technical direction, execution plans, and delivery priorities for BSP and distribution-image development in support of Ampere products.
• Develop and maintain BSP layers for Embedded Linux build systems, including Yocto Project and OpenEmbedded.
• Develop, integrate, and maintain Linux distribution support, bootable images, software packages, and update mechanisms for Ampere platforms.
• Partner with silicon, firmware, platform, validation, and performance-analysis teams during pre-silicon and post-silicon bring-up.
• Analyze, debug, and resolve complex system software, boot, kernel, driver, performance, and stability issues.
• Drive upstream-first and open-source development practices where appropriate, minimizing technical debt and improving long-term maintainability.
• Collaborate with ecosystem partners and the open-source community to enable Ampere platforms and address product requirements.
• Define and promote engineering best practices for source control, code review, release readiness, quality, documentation, and issue management.
• Foster an inclusive engineering culture that values collaboration, continuous learning, ownership, and technical excellence.

About You

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field with 12+ years of relevant experience; or a master’s degree with 8+ years of experience; or a Ph.D. with 5+ years of experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading, coaching, and developing engineering teams.
• Strong technical background in Embedded Linux, Linux distributions, BSP development, and platform bring-up.
• Experience developing and maintaining BSP layers and recipes using Yocto Project, OpenEmbedded, or similar build systems.
• Strong programming and scripting skills in C, Python, and Bash.
• Experience with Linux kernel build systems, kernel configuration, and configuration-management practices.
• Strong system software debugging and performance-analysis skills using tools such as perf, ftrace, trace-cmd, and related Linux tracing and profiling tools.
• Experience debugging complex issues across boot firmware, boot loaders, kernel, device drivers, user space, and hardware interfaces.
• Proficiency with Git and modern source-control best practices, including branching, code review, and release management.
• Strong problem-solving skills, sound technical judgment, and a growth mindset.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively across technical and non-technical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience contributing to and working within open-source communities and upstream development processes.
• Experience authoring and maintaining Device Tree source files and bindings.
• Experience with ARMv8 or Arm-based server and embedded platforms.
• Familiarity with boot loaders, such as U-Boot or UEFI.
• Experience with Linux package management, image creation, CI/CD, automated testing, and release engineering.
• Experience supporting customer, partner, or field escalations for platform software.
• Knowledge of security, secure boot, firmware update flows, and system software hardening.

What We’ll Offer

At Ampere we believe in taking care of our employees and providing a competitive total rewards package that includes base pay, cash long-term incentive, and comprehensive benefits. The full base pay range for this role is between $225,500 and $338,500.

Our benefits include health, wellness, and financial programs that support employees through every stage of life.

Benefit Highlights Include

• Premium medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, as well as income protection and a 401K retirement plan, so that you can feel secure in your health and financial future.
• Unlimited Flextime and 10+ paid holidays so that you can embrace a healthy work-life balance.
• A variety of healthy snacks, energizing espresso, and refreshing drinks to keep you fueled and focused throughout the day.

And there is much more than compensation and benefits. At Ampere, we foster an inclusive culture that empowers our employees to do more and grow more. We are excited to share more about our career opportunities with you through the interview process. Our benefits include health, wellness, and financial programs that support employees through every stage of life.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Ampere is an inclusive and equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, age, veteran and/or military status, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical or mental disability, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law.