Systems Engineer, Kernel · CoreWeave

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:51:21 GMT
Engineering

CoreWeave · Livingston, NJ / New York, NY / Sunnyvale, CA / Bellevue, WA · $165,000 to $242,000 · hybrid

CoreWeave is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Systems Kernel Engineer to join our HAVOCK Team, reporting into the Manager of Systems Engineering. In this role, you will be a key contributor to the stability, performance, and evolution of CoreWeave's Linux-based infrastructure.

As a kernel generalist, you will be responsible for debugging kernel-level issues, analysing and fixing crashes, panics, dumps, and upstreaming fixes and features that improve the performance and reliability of our stack.

This position is ideal for someone who thrives in low-level systems engineering, and understands how modern workloads stress kernels, and is excited to work across a diverse hardware/software ecosystem including CPUs, GPUs, DPUs, networking, and storage.

Kernel Hardware - Acceleration - Virtualization - Operating Systems - Containerization - Kubelet

Our Team's Stack:

Python, Go, bash/sh, C

Prometheus, Victoria Metrics, Grafana

Linux Kernel (custom build), Ubuntu

Intel/AMD/ARM CPUs, Nvidia GPUs, DPUs, Infiniband and Ethernet NICs

Docker, kubernetes (k8s), KubeVirt, containerd, kubelet

Focus Areas:

Kernel Debugging – Analyse kernel crashes, oopses, panics, and dumps to identify root causes and propose fixes.

Upstream Contributions – Develop patches for the Linux kernel and upstream them where applicable (networking, storage, virtualization, GPU/DPU enablement).

Stack-Wide Support – Ensure kernel support and stability across:

Virtualization (KubeVirt, QEMU, vFIO)

Container runtimes (containerd, nydus, kubelet)

HPC/AI workloads (CUDA, GPUDirect, RoCE/InfiniBand)

Kernel-Hardware Enablement – Support new hardware bring-up across Intel, AMD, ARM CPUs, NVIDIA GPUs, DPUs, and NICs.

Performance & Stability – Tune kernel subsystems for latency, throughput, and scalability in distributed HPC/AI clusters.

About the role:

Triage and fix kernel crashes and performance regressions.

Develop, test, and upstream kernel patches relevant to CoreWeave’s hardware/software environment.

Collaborate with hardware vendors and the Linux community on feature enablement.

Implement diagnostics and tooling for kernel-level observability.

Work closely with HPC and Fleet teams to ensure kernel readiness for production workloads.

Provide kernel-level expertise during incident response and root-cause investigations.

Who You Are:

5+ years of professional experience in Linux kernel engineering or systems-level development.

Deep understanding of kernel internals (memory management, scheduling, networking, storage, drivers).

Experience debugging kernel crashes, dumps, and panics using tools like crash, gdb, kdump.

Strong C programming skills with the ability to write maintainable and upstream-quality code.

Experience working with kernel modules, drivers, and subsystems.

Strong problem-solving abilities with a “full-stack” systems perspective.

Preferred:

Contributions to the Linux kernel or related open-source projects.

Familiarity with virtualization (KVM, QEMU, VFIO) and container runtimes.

Networking stack expertise (InfiniBand, RoCE, TCP/IP performance tuning).

GPU/DPU bring-up and driver experience.

Experience in HPC or large-scale distributed systems.

Familiarity with QA/QE best practices

Experience working in Cloud environments

Experience as a software engineer writing large-scale applications

Experience with machine learning is a huge bonus

The base salary range for this role is $165,000 to $242,000. The starting salary will be determined based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and market location. We strive for both market alignment and internal equity when determining compensation. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package includes a discretionary bonus, equity awards, and a comprehensive benefits program (all based on eligibility).

What We Offer

The range we’ve posted represents the typical compensation range for this role. To determine actual compensation, we review the market rate for each candidate which can include a variety of factors. These include qualifications, experience, interview performance, and location.

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a variety of benefits to support your needs, including:

Medical, dental, and vision insurance - 100% paid for by CoreWeave

Company-paid Life Insurance

Voluntary supplemental life insurance

Short and long-term disability insurance

Flexible Spending Account

Health Savings Account

Tuition Reimbursement

Ability to Participate in Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)

Mental Wellness Benefits through Spring Health

Family-Forming support provided by Carrot

Paid Parental Leave

Flexible, full-service childcare support with Kinside

401(k) with a generous employer match

Flexible PTO

Catered lunch each day in our office and data center locations

A casual work environment

A work culture focused on innovative disruption

Our Workplace

While we prioritize a hybrid work environment, remote work may be considered for candidates located more than 30 miles from an office, based on role requirements for specialized skill sets. New hires will be invited to attend onboarding at one of our hubs within their first month. Teams also gather quarterly to support collaboration.

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