Principal Engineer/Director-Engineering, Linux Kernel Development

Company: Qualcomm India Private Limited Job Area: Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Software Engineering General Summary: We are looking for a highly skilled and experienced Principal Engineer to lead the design, development, and upstreaming of Linux kernel features for our next-generation Arm-based Server SoCs. This role is ideal for a hands-on technical leader who thrives at the intersection of hardware and software, and is passionate about building robust, scalable, and high-performance Linux platforms for data center and cloud infrastructure. You will play a critical role in defining kernel architecture, enabling new hardware features, and ensuring compliance with industry standards such as Arm SystemReady SR, BSA, SBSA, and BBR. Key Responsibilities • Will be part of architecture and development of Linux kernel features for Armv8/v9-based server SoCs. • Drive upstream contributions to the mainline Linux kernel, ensuring long-term maintainability and community alignment. • Collaborate with hardware, firmware, and platform teams to enable new SoC features (e.g., RAS, SMMU, GIC, ACPI). • Develop and maintain kernel drivers, subsystems, and board support packages (BSPs). • Guide the integration of compliance test suites such as FWTS, BSA-ACS, SBSA-ACS, and SystemReady SR validation tools. • Lead kernel bring-up on new silicon and virtual platforms • Mentor junior engineers and contribute to technical reviews, design documentation, and architectural decisions • Represent the company in open-source communities and industry working groups Required Qualifications • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field. • 17+ years of experience in Linux kernel development, with a strong focus on Arm architecture. • Deep understanding of kernel subsystems such as memory management, scheduler, device drivers, power management, and interrupt handling. • Proven experience in upstreaming patches and working with the Linux kernel community. • Familiarity with server-class SoC features: NUMA, RAS, ACPI, PCIe, CXL, and secure boot. • Experience with platform enablement and compliance validation (e.g., SystemReady SR, FWTS, ACS). • Strong debugging skills using tools like ftrace, perf, kgdb, crash, and kernel logs. Preferred Qualifications • Experience with virtualization (KVM, Xen) and container technologies (Docker, Kubernetes). • Contributions to open-source projects or maintainership of kernel subsystems. • Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines for kernel testing and validation. • Knowledge of firmware interfaces (UEFI, ACPI, Devicetree) and bootloaders (U-Boot, EDK2). Minimum Qualifications: • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience. OR Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 7+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience. OR PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Software Engineering or related work experience. • 4+ years of work experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc. Applicants: Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer. 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