Senior Embedded Linux Kernel Engineer for Android XR USB

Socket.dev; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 174,000 - 252,000; Full time

Job summary

Google is seeking a software engineer for Linux kernel level work focused on USB-connected XR devices and custom silicon. You will drive kernel driver development, participate in hardware bring-up, and shape USB software architectures for performance and reliability.

Ideal candidates have extensive Linux/Unix experience, embedded Linux knowledge, and exposure to Android or WebKit ecosystems, with a strong background in low-level systems and kernel development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 5 years of experience in Linux Kernel development using C/C++.
• Experience working on the Linux kernel.
• Experience in test automation, refactoring code, test-driven development, build infrastructure, optimizing software, debugging, building tools and testing frameworks.
• Experience with Linux or BSD kernels.
• Demonstrated knowledge of embedded systems development, RTOS concepts, device drivers and hardware/software integration.
• Extensive knowledge of Unix/Linux environments, embedded Linux.
• Extensive knowledge of Android or WebKit.

Responsibilities

• Develop Linux kernel drivers to enable new universal serial bus (USB)-connected XR devices and lead hardware bring-up for novel custom silicon.
• Research scalable USB software architectures, influence SoC architecture, and optimize USB use cases for performance and system health metrics.
• Abstract hardware interfaces for Android userspace, defining and delivering required hardware abstraction layer (HAL) and Android framework layers.
• Collaborate across product areas (PAs) to build impactful, user-facing features for split-compute XR systems (Compute Puck and HMD).
• Identify and fix systemic USB issues while leveraging agentic tools to analyze system behavior and optimize timing and performance.

Skills

C/C++

Linux kernel

Test automation

Refactoring

Test-driven development

Build infrastructure

Performance optimization

Debugging

Testing frameworks

Device drivers

Embedded systems

RTOS concepts

Hardware/software integration

Unix/Linux environments

Android/WebKit

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience

Job description

Google is seeking a software engineer for Linux kernel level work focused on USB-connected XR devices and custom silicon. You will drive kernel driver development, participate in hardware bring-up, and shape USB software architectures for performance and reliability.

Ideal candidates have extensive Linux/Unix experience, embedded Linux knowledge, and exposure to Android or WebKit ecosystems, with a strong background in low-level systems and kernel development.