R&D Software Engineer VMKernel - USA-CA - Promontory B, United States
$121,900 - $195,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 16 October 2026 by the employer.
Join the VMKernel Core team responsible for the design, implementation, and architectural direction of the ESXi operating system kernel.
About the role
This role involves design, implementation, and architectural direction for the VMKernel, the operating system kernel for ESXi.
What you'll do
- Learn tools and processes to become a successful VMKernel engineer, participating in novel operating system techniques and algorithms for managing virtual and real computer hardware.
- Design and implement kernel locking techniques, filesystems, various kernel APIs to interface with device drivers (vmkapi) and user programs (POSIX), and invent new OS security and patching infrastructures.
- Work with multiple engineering teams to architect, design, implement, and deliver new products based on the enterprise-class VCF virtualization platform.
- Own parts of the core kernel infrastructures and lead larger parts of projects.
What you'll need
- BS degree in Computer Science or related field and 8+ years of relevant industry experience; or MS degree in Computer Science or related field and 6+ years of relevant industry experience; or PhD and 3+ years of relevant industry experience.
- Strong understanding of kernel-level OS architectures such as Linux, Unix, Solaris, BSD-like systems, Windows, or embedded real-time Operating Systems.
- Extensive kernel-level development experience and expertise with synchronization in preemptive multi-threaded environments.
- Experience with Intel x86 CPU architecture and Intel based server architecture.
- Excellent analytical, debugging, and C programming skills.
Skills: VMKernel, ESXi, operating system kernel, virtualization, kernel-level development
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 60-day median for Systems Software Engineering roles.
Systems Software Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
692
|
Median days open
60 d
|
Median salary
$213k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Broadcom | All employers we track in this specialty (692 roles · 71 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 22 | 692 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 79 | 6157 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 52 d | 60 d (−8 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $213k |
Skills observed across this category: VMKernel, ESXi, operating system kernel, virtualization, kernel-level development
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm · 172 open roles · median 78 d
- NVIDIA · 135 open roles · median 48 d
- AMD · 63 open roles · median 50 d
- Mobileye · 27 open roles · median 71 d
- Broadcom (this employer) · 21 open roles · median 52 d
- Arm Holdings · 20 open roles · median 113 d
How we counted: 692 open Systems Software Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 71 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 16 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.