Technical Lead, Linux Kernel Networking

Google LLC; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 207,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Bonus target

Benefits

Job summary

Google LLC in Sunnyvale, CA invites applications for a Staff Software Engineer, Linux Networking to design and optimize kernel networking protocols and PCIe device drivers for high-throughput, low-latency workloads. You will lead a distributed team, mentor engineers, and contribute to upstream Linux kernel work to advance Google's infrastructure at planetary scale.

The role emphasizes architectural leadership, cross-team collaboration, and hands-on engineering across the Linux networking stack,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience programming in C++.
• 5 years of experience testing, and launching software products.
• 5 years of experience building and developing large-scale infrastructure, distributed systems or networks, or experience with compute technologies, storage, or hardware architecture.
• 3 years of experience with software design and architecture.
• Experience in systems programming using C or C++, with experience in Linux kernel internals and large-scale system architecture design.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical lead for the Linux Kernel Networking team, collaborating with leadership to define long-term architectural strategy, establish team vision, and manage project priorities, deliverables, and production support.
• Design, develop, test, and enhance large-scale Linux kernel networking solutions and PCIe-related device drivers tailored for high-throughput, low-latency performance.
• Coach, mentor, and guide a distributed team of engineers, supporting their career development and fostering high engineering standards.
• Drive alignment across cross-organizational teams on goals, roadmaps, and dependencies to execute planet-scale infrastructure projects.
• Leverage emerging AI-assisted tools and best practices to accelerate software development workflows, testing, and deployment cycles.

Skills

C++

Linux kernel internals

Distributed systems

System architecture design

C language / systems programming

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience

Tools

PCIe device drivers

Linux kernel

Job description

Google LLC in Sunnyvale, CA invites applications for a Staff Software Engineer, Linux Networking to design and optimize kernel networking protocols and PCIe device drivers for high-throughput, low-latency workloads. You will lead a distributed team, mentor engineers, and contribute to upstream Linux kernel work to advance Google's infrastructure at planetary scale.

The role emphasizes architectural leadership, cross-team collaboration, and hands-on engineering across the Linux networking stack,