Software Engineering Manager, Kernel Development

Software Engineering Manager, Kernel Development Location: Sunnyvale, CA, USA

Experience Level: Advanced

Overview:

Software Engineering Managers have not only the technical expertise to take on and provide technical leadership to major projects but also manage a team of Engineers. You optimize your own code and ensure Engineers can optimize theirs. As a Software Engineering Manager, you manage project goals, contribute to product strategy, and help develop your team.

Teams work across the company in areas such as information retrieval, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking, security, data compression, and user interface design.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience in software development.
• 3 years of experience in a technical leadership role.
• Experience in people management (guiding technical teams, resource allocation, and mentoring).
• Experience in computer architecture and low-level system software development in C.
• Experience with operating systems, including CPU scheduling and memory management.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science or related technical fields.
• 3 years of experience working in a complex, matrixed organization.
• Experience with Linux Kernel Programming and kernel internals (e.g., scheduler, memory management, virtualization/KVM, BPF tracing, PMU).
• Experience with modern systems programming languages, particularly C++ or Rust.
• Track record of executing complex technical migrations (e.g., legacy systems to modern architectures/languages).
• Knowledge of CPU architectures (x86_64, arm64) and memory models.

About the Job: The Linux Kernel team optimizes massive-scale compute and storage infrastructure. You will implement features and enhance the Linux Kernel in areas like low-overhead virtualization, memory capacity, memory tiering, advanced CPU scheduling, and security. As a Software Engineering Manager for Kernel Development, you will lead a team of systems software engineers, drive technical architecture, execute roadmaps for core subsystems like memory management, CPU scheduling, BPF, and file systems, and advocate for fleet efficiency, security milestones, and development stack modernization.

Responsibilities:

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of systems software engineers, fostering a collaborative, high-performance engineering culture.
• Drive the architectural design, implementation, and optimization of core Linux kernel components to meet Google's compute infrastructure demands.
• Partner with other Tech Leads and cross-functional partners to align execution roadmaps, set technical boundaries, and deliver on critical milestones.
• Advocate engineering excellence, robust testing methodologies, and performance profiling to eliminate system regressions and data integrity risks.
• Work closely with platform infrastructure and Google Cloud leadership team, including obtaining strategic and architectural approvals from executive leadership to launch new platform features.

Compensation:

• US: $207000 - $300000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits

Additional Information: Google is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to building a workforce that is representative of the users we serve, creating a culture of belonging and providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, criminal histories consistent with legal requirements, or any other basis protected by law.

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