Principal Systems Software Engineer

Principal Systems Software Engineer

Location: India Development Center (IDC)

The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) team develops and maintains the Linux kernel at the heart of Oracle Linux. We build performance, reliability, and security improvements for demanding enterprise and cloud workloads. Our engineers tackle complex kernel challenges across hardware platforms, partnering with teams across software, firmware, and infrastructure. Join us to solve deep systems problems and help deliver a dependable foundation for Cloud Infrastructure at scale.

We are seeking a Linux Kernel Engineer to help develop, maintain, and secure the kernel software that supports our infrastructure. In this role, you will investigate complex systems issues, review and deliver kernel changes, and collaborate with engineers across regions to improve reliability, performance, and security.

Key responsibilities

• Develop, debug, test, and maintain Linux kernel code and patches.
• Review kernel changes for correctness, maintainability, performance, and regression risk.
• Assess security vulnerabilities, including CVEs, and backport, validate, and deliver fixes.
• Investigate kernel crashes, performance bottlenecks, and production issues using debugging and tracing tools.
• Collaborate with engineering, security, and operations teams to prioritize issues and deliver timely resolutions.
• Contribute to follow-the-sun operational support through clear documentation and effective handoffs across regions.
• Improve testing, automation, and engineering workflows to support a growing kernel workload.

Required qualifications

• Strong proficiency in C and practical experience developing or maintaining Linux kernel software.
• Solid understanding of operating system fundamentals, including memory management, concurrency, synchronization, and process scheduling.
• Experience diagnosing complex systems issues using crash dumps, logs, tracing, and debugging tools.
• Familiarity with kernel patch review, backporting, testing, and regression analysis.
• Experience using Git and collaborating on large codebases.
• Ability to independently own engineering tasks, communicate technical findings clearly, and work effectively with distributed teams.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience of 6+ years.

Preferred qualifications

• Contributions to the upstream Linux kernel or other systems software projects.
• Experience with enterprise Linux distributions and kernel maintenance across multiple versions.
• Experience assessing and remediating kernel CVEs.
• Knowledge of virtualization, networking, storage, or device drivers.
• Experience supporting production infrastructure and building automated kernel validation tools.

What success looks like

You deliver well-tested kernel changes, resolve complex issues, and help maintain timely security patching. Your work strengthens kernel reliability and supports effective collaboration and operational coverage across regions.