Principal Linux Kernel Developer

Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Fort Collins (CO); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and wellbeing benefits

Personal and professional development programs

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is looking for a seasoned professional to lead the design and architecture of Linux kernel components in Fort Collins, Colorado. You will play a crucial role in optimizing performance and debugging kernel-level issues.

The ideal candidate should have a Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science and 8-12+ years of experience in systems or kernel-level software development. A strong proficiency in C programming and collaboration skills are also essential.

Employees benefit from a comprehensive suite of health and wellbeing programs as well as opportunities for personal and professional development.

Qualifications

• 8–12+ years of experience in systems or kernel-level software development.
• Strong experience debugging kernel using tools such as crash, perf, ftrace, and tracepoints.
• Proven technical leadership and ability to influence architecture.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and design of Linux kernel components.
• Debug and resolve complex kernel-level issues including system crashes.
• Engage with upstream open-source communities and contribute patches.

Skills

C programming

Linux kernel internals

Debugging kernel-level issues

Technical leadership

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Debugging tools (crash, perf, ftrace)

Job description

Overview

This role has been designed as ‘Hybrid’ with an expectation that you will work on average 2 days per week from an HPE office.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and design of Linux kernel components including filesystems, memory management, networking, and I/O subsystems.
• Drive performance optimization, scalability improvements, and reliability across the storage stack.
• Debug and resolve complex kernel-level issues including system crashes, memory corruption, and performance bottlenecks.
• Provide technical leadership through design reviews, mentoring, and establishing engineering best practices.
• Collaborate across storage, networking, firmware, and hardware teams to deliver integrated solutions.
• Engage with upstream open-source communities (e.g., Linux kernel, Lustre) and contribute patches and reviews.
• Lead root-cause analysis and resolution of critical customer issues and escalations.
• Define and influence long-term architectural direction for HPE storage platforms.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 8–12+ years of experience in systems or kernel-level software development.
• Expert-level proficiency in C programming.
• Deep expertise in Linux kernel internals (e.g., memory management, filesystems, networking, block I/O).
• Strong experience debugging kernel using tools such as crash, perf, ftrace, and tracepoints.
• Experience with distributed systems or storage platforms.
• Proven technical leadership and ability to influence architecture and cross-functional teams.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills within global engineering organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with distributed storage systems such as Lustre, Ceph, or DAOS.
• Experience contributing to upstream Linux kernel or open-source projects.
• Knowledge of HPC environments and high-performance computing architectures.
• Familiarity with RDMA, InfiniBand, or high-speed interconnects.
• Experience with CI/CD, testing automation, and performance benchmarking.
• Experience handling customer escalations and production system issues.

What We Can Offer You

Health & Wellbeing: We strive to provide our team members and their loved ones with a comprehensive suite of benefits that supports their physical, financial and emotional wellbeing.

Personal & Professional Development: We invest in your career with programs to help you reach career goals, whether you want to become a knowledge expert or apply your skills to another division.

Unconditional Inclusion: We are unconditionally inclusive in the way we work and celebrate individual uniqueness. We have the flexibility to manage our work and personal needs. We make bold moves, together, and are a force for good.

We are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or any other protected category, and all decisions we make are based on qualifications, merit, and business need.

Information about employee benefits offered in the US can be found at the official HP rewards site.

Note: This description focuses on the role responsibilities and qualifications and may be updated to reflect evolving business needs.