RTOS Development Engineer

Aptiv; Walnut Creek (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Flex time off

401k

Job summary

Wind River is seeking an RTOS development engineer to contribute to the next-generation real-time operating system. You will work with experienced engineers to design, implement, and validate core OS functionality, while growing expertise in real-time systems.

The role emphasizes hands-on coding in C, OS concepts, and cross‑functional collaboration in a safety‑critical environment. A degree in CS/EE/SE plus relevant projects are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, System Design or related field.
• 0–3 years of relevant experience, including internships, co-ops, or academic project work.
• Knowledge of operating systems concepts, such as: Threads and scheduling (including real‑time scheduling)
• Synchronization (mutex, semaphores, queues)
• Memory management and virtual memory
• Interrupts and concurrency
• Excellent programming skills in C
• Hands‑on experience implementing OS‑level concepts, e.g., real‑time systems course
• Robotics or other OS systems projects
• Strong problem‑solving and debugging skills
• Familiarity with Linux/Unix development environments
• Experience with Git or similar version control systems
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Eagerness to learn and grow in a collaborative environment

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the design and implementation of OS components with guidance from senior engineers
• Develop high‑quality, maintainable code and tests within a CI/CD and agile environment
• Debug and resolve issues found during testing or reported by internal teams
• Write clear technical documentation for designs and implementations
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams including hardware, tools, and verification
• Learn and apply best practices in real‑time, safety‑critical software development

Skills

C programming

Real-time OS

Linux/Unix

Git

Debugging

Concurrency

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in CS/EE/SE

Job description

ABOUT WIND RIVER

Wind River is a global leader in delivering software for mission-critical intelligent systems. For more than four decades, the company has been an innovator and pioneer, powering billions of systems that require the highest levels of security, safety, and reliability. Wind River helps customers across automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, and telecommunications industries solve complex technology challenges on their journey toward the new intelligent machine economy. The company’s software powers generation after generation of the safest, most secure systems in the world. Examples include playing a key role in NASA space missions such as Artemis I, the James Webb Space Telescope, and multiple Mars rovers. We’ve achieved recent 5G milestones including the world’s first successful 5G data session with Verizon and building one of the largest Open RAN networks in the world with Vodafone. The company has received industry recognition for its technology innovation and leadership, and for its workplace culture, including global Great Place to Work certification and being named a “Top Workplace” for ten consecutive years. If you want to be part of a unique culture where the lived experience is based on our cultural attributes of growth mindset, customer-focus, and diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging, come join us and help advance the future software defined world.

YOUR ROLE

As an RTOS development engineer, you will contribute to the development of Wind River’s next-generation real-time operating system. You’ll work alongside experienced engineers to design, implement, and validate core OS functionality, while growing your expertise in real-time systems. This role is ideal for candidates with a strong academic foundation in operating systems—particularly real-time systems—and hands‑on experience from demanding courses or projects (e.g., building kernels, schedulers, or synchronization primitives).

HOW YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE

• Contribute to the design and implementation of OS components with guidance from senior engineers
• Develop high‑quality, maintainable code and tests within a CI/CD and agile environment
• Debug and resolve issues found during testing or reported by internal teams
• Write clear technical documentation for designs and implementations
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams including hardware, tools, and verification
• Learn and apply best practices in real‑time, safety‑critical software development

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, System Design or related field
• 0–3 years of relevant experience, including internships, co‑ops, or academic project work
• Knowledge of operating systems concepts, such as: Threads and scheduling (including real‑time scheduling)
• Synchronization (mutex, semaphores, queues)
• Memory management and virtual memory
• Interrupts and concurrency
• Excellent programming skills in C
• Hands‑on experience implementing OS‑level concepts, for example through: A real‑time systems course (e.g., University of Seattle CS452 or equivalent)
• Robotics or other OS systems projects
• Strong problem‑solving and debugging skills
• Familiarity with Linux/Unix development environments
• Experience with Git or similar version control systems
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Eagerness to learn and grow in a collaborative environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with: Embedded or real‑time systems, robotics, IoT
• Low‑level development (e.g., drivers, interrupts, hardware interaction)
• Exposure to:
  • Assembly, C++, or Python
  • Performance analysis or concurrency debugging
  • Familiarity with real‑time constraints (latency, determinism, deadlines)
  • Understanding of software development practices such as testing, CI/CD, and code reviews

What Sets You Apart

• Demonstrated excellence in a rigorous systems course (e.g., implementing a kernel, scheduler, or concurrency primitives under real‑time constraints)
• Curiosity about how systems work at a low level
• Ability to reason about correctness under concurrency
• Strong ownership of projects, even in early‑career settings (course, co‑op, or personal work)
• Growth Opportunities Work closely with experienced OS engineers and technical leaders
• Gain hands‑on experience in production‑grade RTOS development
• Grow into ownership of subsystems and features over time

Growth Opportunities

Work closely with experienced OS engineers and technical leaders. Gain hands‑on experience in production‑grade RTOS development. Grow into ownership of subsystems and features over time.

Compensation

This role is compensation range is between $100,000 to $135,000 USD plus annual incentive plan bonus. Compensation is determined through interviews and a review of the education, experience, knowledge, skills, location, and abilities of the applicant, and equity with other team members.

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Flex time off
• Eligibility to enroll in 401k
• 12 paid holidays

SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS

Successful candidates must engage in a security clearance process in regard to their citizenship in order to perform fundamental job duties, as per applicable law. In particular, candidates with certain citizenship may not be able to perform such fundamental job duties. Currently, this includes citizens of the following countries: Belarus; Burma; China; Cuba; Iran; North Korea; Syria; Venezuela; Afghanistan; Cambodia; Central African Republic; Cyprus; Democratic Republic of Congo; Ethiopia; Eritrea; Haiti; Iraq; Lebanon; Libya; Russia; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Zimbabwe. The security clearance process may take a significant amount of time to complete, and any offer of employment will be contingent on the candidate's legal ability to perform the fundamental job duties.

Wind River is committed to meeting its obligations to candidates under applicable human rights law and privacy law in this regard.

Privacy Notice - Active Candidates

Aptiv is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Headquartered in Dublin, Aptiv has approximately 180,000+ employees and operates 12 technical centers, as well as manufacturing sites and customer support centers in 44 countries. Visit aptiv.com. Please review Aptiv's privacy policy by following this link: https://www.aptiv.com/privacy-notice