xAI
Software Engineer, Linux Kernel
$180K–$440K
Palo Alto, CA +2 · Full-time · Posted Aug 3, 2026
- Location
- Palo Alto, CA
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA
About the job
Build and operate the Linux-based software and device drivers underpinning a large AI supercomputer and its network fabric.
What you'll do
- Build and maintain a lean, reliable Linux-based operating system and high-performance device drivers.
- Deploy, debug, and improve the production platform, including observability and configuration-management tools.
- Work with hardware teams and partners to design new supercomputer hardware and bring up its operating system and software.
What they ask for
- Hands-on systems programming experience in C or C++.
- Strong operating-systems fundamentals and knowledge of the Linux kernel and networking stack, or transferable production-kernel experience.
- Experience debugging across kernel, network, and userspace, and bringing up new hardware.
- Demonstrated device or peripheral driver development and optimization experience.
Nice to have
- Understanding of networking, hardware interface standards, product security, system hardening, and secure boot.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Pay
$180,000 - $440,000 USD (base salary)
Tools
Linux, C, C++, ftrace, perf, Wireshark/tcpdump, eBPF, gdb
AI focus
The role supports the software platform for AI supercomputers; no direct AI model development is stated.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative