Sr. Staff / Principal Software Engineer – Linux Kernel & ARM Server Platforms
$180,600 - $271,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 15 June 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role provides system-level technical leadership across Linux kernel, firmware, and platform software for ARM server platforms in hyperscale datacenter environments. Work spans silicon, firmware, OS, and performance teams to enable ARM server SoCs and ensure compliance with industry platform standards.
What you'll do
- Define and guide architecture across HW ↔ FW ↔ OS ↔ hypervisor boundaries using standards such as ACPI, UEFI, SystemReady, SBSA/SBBR, and PSCI. - Drive Linux kernel enablement, performance optimizations, and platform drivers for server platforms. - Guide boot flows, runtime firmware, power and performance management, virtualization, memory, PCIe, and telemetry enablement. - Collaborate with silicon, performance, RAS, security, and platform teams to identify optimization opportunities and architectural risks. - Review designs and implementations to ensure scalability, robustness, and production readiness across Qualcomm server platforms. - Mentor senior engineers and serve as a technical authority across firmware and system software domains.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field with 6+ years of software engineering experience (or Master's with 5+ years, or PhD with 4+ years). - 3+ years of experience with programming languages such as C, C++, Java, or Python.
Nice to have
- 12 years of experience in system software, firmware, or platform software for high-performance or server-class systems. - 10 years of hands-on Linux kernel development experience. - Proficiency in C and low-level systems programming (assembly is a plus). - Experience with firmware, boot loaders, and pre- and post-silicon debug environments. - 15 years of experience building production software stacks for high-performance or datacenter platforms. - Experience delivering production server SoCs or hyperscale platforms, and familiarity with ARM, OCP, or industry platform standards bodies.
This role has been open 129 days — well above the 64-day median for Systems Software Engineering roles.
Systems Software Engineering · Systems Software
|
Open roles in category
682
|
Median days open
64 d
|
Median salary
$209k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Qualcomm | All employers we track in this specialty (682 roles · 72 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 176 | 682 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 738 | 6298 · 144 employers |
| Median days open | 81 d | 64 d (+17 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $209k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Qualcomm (this employer) · 175 open roles · median 84 d
- NVIDIA · 131 open roles · median 44 d
- AMD · 59 open roles · median 52 d
- Mobileye · 23 open roles · median 86 d
- Broadcom · 22 open roles · median 59 d
- Arm Holdings · 20 open roles · median 120 d
How we counted: 682 open Systems Software Engineering (Systems Software) roles from 72 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 23 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.
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