Kernel Developer – KernelCare ELS Team

About the role

We are looking for an experienced Kernel Developer to join the KernelCare Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS) team. This fully remote position focuses on back‑porting security fixes and critical bug patches from upstream Linux kernels to legacy, enterprise‑used kernel versions.

Key responsibilities

• Research upstream CVEs and bug fixes, assess impact on legacy kernels.
• Manually backport Linux kernel patches to older RPM‑based and Debian‑based distributions.
• Resolve merge conflicts between upstream changes and target kernel codebases.
• Build and rebuild kernel source and binary packages in reproducible environments for both RPM and Debian ecosystems.
• Validate patched kernels through build tests, runtime tests, and regression analysis.
• Enhance internal tooling and automation pipelines using Python, Go, and Shell scripting.
• Leverage AI‑assisted development tools to accelerate tasks while ensuring rigorous verification.
• Document technical decisions, participate in code reviews, and collaborate across time zones.

Required profile

• Strong proficiency in C and hands‑on Linux debugging.
• Commercial experience in Linux kernel development, patching, backporting, or debugging.
• Solid knowledge of Git and GNU build tools (make, autotools).
• Experience building Linux kernels or distribution packages for RPM and Debian.

Required skills

• C programming
• Linux debugging
• Linux kernel development
• Git
• GNU make & Autotools
• RPM packaging
• Debian packaging
• Python
• Go
• Shell scripting