Linux Kernel Systems Engineer for AI Devices

OpenAI, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking an Operating Systems Engineer focused on the Linux kernel to design, develop, and maintain kernel capabilities powering OpenAI's consumer devices. You will own features across the stack from kernel to userspace and shape the interfaces that deliver complete product features.

Your work will span development, integration, and production, collaborating with hardware, firmware, platform, and application engineers to ensure robust, maintainable solutions and upstream contributions

Qualifications

• Substantial hands-on experience designing, developing, and debugging one or more Linux kernel subsystems.
• Proficiency in C for kernel and low-level systems development.
• Understanding of kernel concurrency, synchronization, memory ownership, and lifetimes.
• Experience delivering systems capabilities across kernel and userspace.
• Familiarity with Linux kernel development principles and practices.

Responsibilities

• Build kernel capabilities: design, implement, and maintain Linux kernel subsystem changes.
• Own features across the stack: define kernel/userspace boundaries and interfaces.
• Debug complex system behavior using tracing, profiling, and diagnostics.
• Measure improvements with tests and workloads for performance, power, reliability.
• Collaborate with hardware, firmware, platform, and app engineers.
• Contribute sustainable kernel changes and upstream patches where appropriate.

Skills

Kernel development

C programming

Kernel concurrency

Userspace interfaces

Rust (systems)

Job description

OpenAI is seeking an Operating Systems Engineer focused on the Linux kernel to design, develop, and maintain kernel capabilities powering OpenAI's consumer devices. You will own features across the stack from kernel to userspace and shape the interfaces that deliver complete product features.

Your work will span development, integration, and production, collaborating with hardware, firmware, platform, and application engineers to ensure robust, maintainable solutions and upstream contributions