Linux Kernels Software Lead · OpenAI

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:36:41 GMT
Engineering

OpenAI · San Francisco · $342K – $555K • Offers Equity · onsite

Job Posting

Linux Kernels Software Lead

Location

San Francisco

Employment Type

Full time

Department

Scaling

Compensation

$342K – $555K • Offers Equity

The base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. If the role is non-exempt, overtime pay will be provided consistent with applicable laws. In addition to the salary range listed above, total compensation also includes generous equity, performance-related bonus(es) for eligible employees, and the following benefits.

Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts

Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)

401(k) retirement plan with employer match

Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)

Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees

13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law)

Mental health and wellness support

Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage

Annual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth

Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible

Relocation support for eligible employees

Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided.

More details about our benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process.

This role is at-will and OpenAI reserves the right to modify base pay and other compensation components at any time based on individual performance, team or company results, or market conditions.

About the Team

The Scaling team builds and optimizes large-scale infrastructure to enable next-generation AI workloads.

About the Role

We’re looking for a founding/lead Linux kernel developer to join our Scaling team. In this role, you’ll design and develop Linux kernel components, working at the intersection of hardware and software to unlock performance at scale.

Responsibilities

Lead and bootstrap the development of our Linux kernel stack to support high-performance systems.

Design and implement kernel drivers, including for functionality related to DMA, PCIe, NICs, and RDMA.

Drive end-to-end development of system-scale networking, including required kernel and other low-level software.

Collaborate with vendors to integrate their technologies within our systems.

Bring up and debug the kernel on new platforms.

Build userspace software to support integration, testing, diagnostics, and performance validation.

Qualifications

Proven experience leading development within the Linux kernel.

Deep knowledge of subsystems relevant to high-performance systems: PCIe, dma-buf, RDMA, P2P, SR-IOV, IOMMU, etc.

Knowledge of subsystems and frameworks related to scale-out networking: ibverbs, ECN/DCQCN, etc.

Strong programming skills in C, C++, Python, and Linux shell scripting; Rust experience is a strong plus.

Experience working directly with engineering teams to define interfaces and tooling.

Track record of managing vendor deliverables and technical relationships.

Background in embedded systems development (bootloaders, drivers, hardware/software integration).

Ability to thrive in ambiguity and build systems from scratch.

_To comply with U.S. export control laws and regulations, candidates for this role may need to meet certain legal status requirements as provided in those laws and regulations._

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.