Linux Kernels Software Lead jobs in United States
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OpenAI · 4 months ago

Linux Kernels Software Lead

positionSan Francisco
timeFull-time
remoteOnsite
senioritySenior Level, Lead/Staff
money$465K/yr - $555K/yr

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We are seeking a founding/lead Linux kernel developer to join our Scaling team, where you will design and develop Linux kernel components to enhance performance at scale.

Agentic AIArtificial Intelligence (AI)Foundational AIGenerative AIMachine LearningNatural Language ProcessingSaaS
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Growth Opportunities
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H1B Sponsor Likelynote

Responsibilities

Lead and bootstrap the development of our Linux kernel stack to support high-performance systems
Design and implement kernel drivers, including for functionality related to DMA, PCIe, NICs, and RDMA
Drive end-to-end development of system-scale networking, including required kernel and other low-level software
Collaborate with vendors to integrate their technologies within our systems
Bring up and debug the kernel on new platforms
Build userspace software to support integration, testing, diagnostics, and performance validation

Qualification

Linux kernel developmentHigh-performance systemsC/C++ programmingPython programmingEmbedded systems developmentLinux shell scriptingRust programmingVendor managementInterface definitionSystem debugging

Required

Proven experience leading development within the Linux kernel
Deep knowledge of subsystems relevant to high-performance systems: PCIe, dma-buf, RDMA, P2P, SR-IOV, IOMMU, etc
Knowledge of subsystems and frameworks related to scale-out networking: ibverbs, ECN/DCQCN, etc
Strong programming skills in C, C++, Python, and Linux shell scripting; Rust experience is a strong plus
Experience working directly with engineering teams to define interfaces and tooling
Track record of managing vendor deliverables and technical relationships
Background in embedded systems development (bootloaders, drivers, hardware/software integration)
Ability to thrive in ambiguity and build systems from scratch

Company

OpenAI

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OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company that develops advanced AI models, including ChatGPT. It is a sub-organization of OpenAI Foundation.
dateFounded in 2015
location
San Francisco, California, USA
people-size201-500 employees
web-link
https://www.openai.com

H1B Sponsorship

OpenAI has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (1)
2024 (1)
2023 (1)
2022 (18)
2021 (10)
2020 (6)

Funding

Current Stage
Growth Stage
Total Funding
$79B
Key Investors
The Walt Disney CompanySoftBankThrive Capital
2025-12-11Corporate Round· $1B
2025-10-02Secondary Market· $6.6B
2025-03-31Series Unknown· $40B

Leadership Team

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Sam Altman
CEO & Co-Founder
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Greg Brockman
President, Chairman, & Co-Founder
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Recent News

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Company data provided by crunchbase