Senior Confidential Computing Software Engineer (Kubernetes & Virtualization)

AMD; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

AMD is seeking a software engineer for the SW Ecosystem Security Engineering Team to deliver confidential computing enablement for AMD EPYC platforms, with primary emphasis on Kubernetes and KubeVirt-based confidential VM support.

You will work across host, guest, hypervisor, orchestration, and container runtimes to productionize these features and collaborate with upstream communities, OS vendors, and internal AMD stakeholders on robust, production-ready solutions for confidential VMs and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer or Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• Experience in Rust, Go, Python or Bash for Linux/virtualization.
• Hands-on with KubeVirt/OpenShift Virtualization or similar.
• Contributions to upstream open source projects.

Responsibilities

• Develop and upstream AMD SEV-SNP enablement for KubeVirt, including confidential VM configuration, libvirt/QEMU integration, guest launch flows, node feature discovery, and end-to-end validation.
• Implement confidential VM and attestation functionality across KubeVirt, VirTEE, Trustee, and related components, including secure workload launch, policy enforcement, evidence handling, and secret-release flows.
• Support confidential container enablement where it intersects with VM-based trusted execution environments, including Kata Containers and Confidential Containers integration points.
• Debug integration issues across Linux, KVM, QEMU, libvirt, KubeVirt, guest firmware, attestation services, container runtimes, and platform configuration.
• Create and maintain CI coverage, hardware-backed validation, functional tests, interoperability tests, and demonstrations for AMD confidential computing features.
• Collaborate with upstream maintainers, OS vendors, partner teams, and internal AMD stakeholders through design reviews, community discussions, roadmap alignment, and technical issue resolution.
• Develop AMD EPYC platform-aware, such as Kubernetes, enablement where NUMA locality, cache hierarchy, CCD/CCX organization, SMT placement, CPU pinning, or device locality affect confidential VM performance, placement, or deployment predictability.
• Produce technical documentation, planning material, usage guidance, and proof-of-concept support for confidential VM deployment and related confidential computing workflows.

Skills

Rust

Go

Python

Bash

Kubernetes

Linux

KVM

QEMU

libvirt

OpenShift Virtualization

Confidential computing

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer or Electrical Engineering or equivalent

Tools

KubeVirt

OpenShift Virtualization

QEMU

libvirt

KVM

Job description

ADVANCE YOUR CAREER. ADVANCE THE WORLD.

At AMD, we believe technology has the power to solve the world’s most important challenges. From advancing healthcare and scientific discovery to powering AI and the technologies people rely on every day, innovation at AMD is shaping the future.

ADVANCE YOUR CAREER. ADVANCE THE WORLD.

At AMD, we believe technology has the power to solve the world’s most important challenges. From advancing healthcare and scientific discovery to powering AI and the technologies people rely on every day, innovation at AMD is shaping the future.

Whether you’re designing next-gen processors, enabling AI breakthroughs, or bringing leading edge products to market, every role at AMD contributes to something bigger — technology that moves the world forward. Join us and, together, we’ll advance your career.

The Role

AMD’s SW Ecosystem Security Engineering Team is seeking a software engineer to deliver confidential computing enablement for AMD EPYC platforms, with primary emphasis on Kubernetes and KubeVirt-based confidential virtual machine support. The role focuses on making AMD SEV-SNP capabilities usable through open source virtualization and confidential computing stacks such as KubeVirt, OpenShift Virtualization, Kata Containers, Confidential Containers, VirTEE, Trustee, and related attestation components. The developer will work across host, guest, hypervisor, orchestration, and container runtime layers to help turn AMD platform security features into production-ready software, validation, documentation, and partner-facing enablement. Success in this role requires strong systems software fundamentals, open source execution, and the ability to collaborate with upstream communities, OS vendors, and internal AMD stakeholders on technically rigorous solutions for confidential VMs, confidential containers, and AMD EPYC platform enablement.

The Person

The ideal candidate is a hands‑on systems engineer who can move comfortably between architecture, implementation, debug, test, and upstream review. They should be able to reason deeply about confidential VM behavior in KubeVirt‑based environments, including guest-owner trust boundaries, firmware and hypervisor interactions, attestation evidence, policy enforcement, secret handling, and the practical integration work required to expose AMD SEV‑SNP capabilities through open source virtualization stacks. This person communicates clearly with maintainers, OS vendor partners, and internal stakeholders; identifies practical gaps in evolving upstream projects; and converts ambiguous platform enablement needs into accepted designs, working code, reliable tests, and clear technical guidance.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and upstream AMD SEV-SNP enablement for KubeVirt, including confidential VM configuration, libvirt/QEMU integration, guest launch flows, node feature discovery, and end-to-end validation.
• Implement confidential VM and attestation functionality across KubeVirt, VirTEE, Trustee, and related components, including secure workload launch, policy enforcement, evidence handling, and secret-release flows.
• Support confidential container enablement where it intersects with VM‑based trusted execution environments, including Kata Containers and Confidential Containers integration points.
• Debug integration issues across Linux, KVM, QEMU, libvirt, KubeVirt, guest firmware, attestation services, container runtimes, and platform configuration.
• Create and maintain CI coverage, hardware‑backed validation, functional tests, interoperability tests, and demonstrations for AMD confidential computing features.
• Collaborate with upstream maintainers, OS vendors, partner teams, and internal AMD stakeholders through design reviews, community discussions, roadmap alignment, and technical issue resolution.
• Develop AMD EPYC platform‑aware, such as Kubernetes, enablement where NUMA locality, cache hierarchy, CCD/CCX organization, SMT placement, CPU pinning, or device locality affect confidential VM performance, placement, or deployment predictability.
• Produce technical documentation, planning material, usage guidance, and proof‑of‑concept support for confidential VM deployment and related confidential computing workflows.

Preferred Experience

• Systems software development experience in Rust, Go, Python, and Bash for Linux, virtualization, or cloud‑native infrastructure projects.
• Technical proficiency with Kubernetes, Linux, KVM, QEMU, libvirt, guest firmware, VM lifecycle management, and debugging across host, guest, hypervisor, and containers.
• Hands‑on experience with KubeVirt, OpenShift Virtualization, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, or comparable open source virtualization environments.
• Experience with confidential computing technologies such as AMD SEV‑SNP, SEV, SEV‑ES, confidential VMs, confidential containers, trusted execution environments, or guest‑owner trust models.
• Working knowledge of attestation concepts and components, including attestation evidence, VCEK handling, policy configuration, and secret‑release workflows.
• Track record contributing code, tests, documentation, design proposals, or reviews to upstream open source projects.
• Experience developing CI, end‑to‑end tests, hardware‑backed validation, demos, or technical guides for virtualization or platform enablement features.
• Experience collaborating with OS vendors, software partners, ISVs, customers, or upstream engineering teams on deployment guidance, proof‑of‑concept enablement, or production‑readiness.
• Understanding of x86 or AMD EPYC architecture concepts relevant to confidential VM placement and performance, including memory encryption, NUMA topology, cache hierarchy, CPU pinning, SMT placement, and device locality.

Academic Credentials

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer or Electrical Engineering or equivalent

This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

AMD benefits at a glance.

AMD does not accept unsolicited resumes from headhunters, recruitment agencies, or fee‑based recruitment services. AMD and its subsidiaries are equal opportunity, inclusive employers and will consider all applicants without regard to age, ancestry, color, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religion, political and/or third‑party affiliation, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates and will accommodate applicants’ needs under the respective laws throughout all stages of the recruitment and selection process.

AMD may use Artificial Intelligence to help screen, assess or select applicants for this position. AMD’s “Responsible AI Policy” is available here.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.