Systems Engineer, Kernel

Join to apply for the Systems Engineer, Kernel role at CoreWeave CoreWeave is The Essential Cloud for AI™. Built for pioneers by pioneers, CoreWeave delivers a platform of technology, tools, and teams that enables innovators to build and scale AI with confidence. Trusted by leading AI labs, startups, and global enterprises, CoreWeave combines superior infrastructure performance with deep technical expertise to accelerate breakthroughs and turn compute into capability. Founded in 2017, CoreWeave became a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: CRWV) in March2025. Learn more at What You’ll Do 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, analyzing 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 – Analyze 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 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. California Consumer Privacy Act - California applicants only CoreWeave is an equal opportunity employer, committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive workplace. All qualified applicants and candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. As part of this commitment and consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), CoreWeave will ensure that qualified applicants and candidates with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact: View email address on click.appcast.io. Export Control Compliance This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be a U.S. person, defined as a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), refugee under 8 U.S.C. §1157, or asylee under 8 U.S.C. §1158, eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. CoreWeave may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process. Seniority level Mid-Senior level Employment type Full-time Job function Information Technology Industries Technology, Information and Internet #J-18808-Ljbffr