Senior Linux Kernel and Driver Developer

Overview

Microsoft Silicon, Cloud Hardware, and Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) is the team behind Microsoft’s expanding Cloud Infrastructure and responsible for powering Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” mission. SCHIE delivers the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's over 200 online businesses including Bing, MSN, Office 365, Xbox Live, Teams, OneDrive, and the Microsoft Azure platform globally with our server and data center infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability solutions. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering a trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide and we are looking for passionate engineers to help achieve that mission.

 

The Compute Silicon & Manufacturing Engineering (CSME) organization within SCHIE is responsible for design, development, manufacturing and packaging of Microsoft's state-of-the-art computer chips, notably the Azure Cobalt. Our solutions provide sustainable strategic advantage to Microsoft and enable our customers to achieve more.

 

As Microsoft's cloud business continues to grow the ability to deploy new offerings and hardware infrastructure on time, in high volume with high quality and lowest cost is of paramount importance. To achieve this goal, the CSME team is instrumental in defining and delivering operational measures of success for hardware manufacturing, improving the planning process, quality, delivery, scale and sustainability related to Microsoft cloud hardware. We are looking for seasoned engineers with a dedicated passion for customer focused solutions, insight and industry knowledge to envision and implement future technical solutions that will manage and optimize the Cloud infrastructure.

 

We are looking for a Senior Linux Kernel and Driver Developer to join the team.

Responsibilities

The Compute Silicon & Manufacturing Engineering (CSME) Cloud Compute Development Organization (CCDO) is seeking a senior-level Linux kernel and driver expert to lead development and validation efforts for custom silicon platforms. This high-impact role focuses on enabling advanced hardware features in Linux environments and driving technical excellence across the team. As a technical individual contributor, you will:

 

• Lead Linux Kernel & Driver Development
  • Own design and implementation of Linux kernel modules and device drivers for critical platform features (PCIe, SR-IOV, VFIO, security interfaces) on Microsoft Cobalt products.
  • Define architecture and guide integration of low-level functionality for boot flows, memory management, and interrupt handling.
• Technical Leadership & Mentorship
  • Provide technical guidance and coaching to engineers on kernel development best practices.
  • Influence design decisions and drive adoption of robust methodologies across the team.
• Platform Enablement & Validation
  • Develop strategies for enabling base Linux configurations and diagnostics tools.
  • Define and implement validation frameworks, debug utilities, and observability features for post-silicon bring-up.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Partner with silicon architects, firmware teams, and validation engineers to ensure feature readiness and compliance.
  • Engage with internal and partner stakeholders to improve design, security, and validation methodologies.
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
  • Drive continuous improvement of Linux kernel and driver architecture, ensuring scalability, maintainability, and long-term sustainability within Microsoft Cobalt platforms.
  • Apply a growth mindset to learn emerging technologies and adapt solutions in a dynamic environment.
• Deliver High-Quality Results
  • Ensure timely delivery of drivers, tools, and validation collateral with exceptional quality and reliability.
  • Champion Microsoft values by fostering collaboration, inclusivity, and integrity in all interactions.

 

We will only achieve our mission if we live our culture. We start by becoming learners in all things—having a growth mindset. Then we apply that mindset to learning about our customers, being diverse and inclusive, working together as one, and—ultimately—making a difference in the world.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 1+ year(s) technical engineering experience
  • OR Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 4+ years technical engineering experience
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years technical engineering experience
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Deep understanding of Linux kernel internals: memory management and interrupt handling.
• Proficiency with Git, compilers, and Linux build systems

 

Other Requirements:
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following specialized security screenings:

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proficient communication, collaboration and teamwork skills and ability to lead, grow, and contribute to diverse and inclusive teams.
• Validation tools, verification, validation, or logic development experience as part of a CPU, SoC and/or IP development team
• Hands-on experience with PCIe, SR-IOV, VFIO, and virtualization technologies.
• Leadership skills
• Demonstrated validation expertise in one or more of the following:
  • Familiarity with packaging (RPM/DEB) and kernel module build processes.
  • Functional: Core, PCIe, Memory Controller, Security, IO, Power Management, Coherency, Manageability, BIOS/Microcode development and debug, or Fuses
  • Electrical: Memory, IO, Signal Integrity, or Clocking
  • Power and Performance
  • Ability to develop sophisticated tools/scripts to support SoC validation debug activities.
  • Ability to develop and build kernels and modify existing commercial OS images adding SoC validation debug hooks, drivers, and various capabilities into them (Linux and/or Windows operating systems).
  • Understanding system level software and firmware.
  • Experience running silicon content on pre-silicon platforms such as emulation or FPGA.
  • Demonstrated success in hardware/software debug efforts.
  • Experience with Azure DevOps or equivalent OPS frameworks.

 

  #SCHIE #CSME

Silicon Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $158,400 - $258,000 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

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Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.