System Software Engineer, Linux Kernel and Device Drivers

What MatX Is BuildingMatX's mission is to make the world’s best AI models run as efficiently as allowed by physics, bringing the world years ahead in AI quality and availability. MatX is seeking System Software Engineer to join our team as we create best-in-class silicon for high-performance and sustainable GenAI. Successful candidates for these roles will be responsible for delivering performant and functionally accurate silicon for MatX products across compute, memory management. High-speed connectivity and other key technologies.The MatX host system software team owns everything that makes our AI silicon and systems usable: from Linux kernel drivers up through node and cluster management. The team also co-owns the BMC/OpenBMC firmware stack, with dedicated firmware engineers, so host software and out-of-band management are designed together rather than bolted together. We're looking for self-driven engineers who can take a hardware spec and a register map and just start building — prototype drivers, low-level utilities that talk directly to the chip, daemons, and tooling — with minimal hand-holding. Each engineer on this team has a primary focus area, but ownership of overlapping components is shared, and you should expect (and want) to venture across the stack.What You'll Do HereArchitect, design, and implement the Linux kernel driver stack for MatX's AI accelerators (PCIe endpoint devices), including memory management, DMA, interrupt handling, and command submission pathsBuild the low-level userspace libraries that sit directly on top of the driver — ioctl/sysfs interfaces, memory mapping, direct chip access utilitiesTest and validate early chip features on pre-silicon platforms: software simulation, emulation, and FPGA environments — often as the first software to ever touch a new hardware featureWrite quick prototype code, debug utilities, and bring-up tooling to exercise the chip directly, well before polished production software existsDrive first-silicon bring-up side by side with hardware, BMC firmware, and platform engineers, debugging issues that span RTL, firmware, kernel, and userspaceProfile and optimize the host I/O path: PCIe throughput, DMA efficiency, interrupt latency, and OS overheadsDeliver unit and regression tests for kernel and library componentsExpose driver-level device state and error information in ways the platform telemetry and management layers (and, where relevant, the BMC) can consumeInfluence next-generation chip architecture by feeding software requirements back into silicon designShare ownership of adjacent components with teammates — e.g., contributing to the chip initialization and telemetry daemons that build on your driver interfacesWho You AreBS or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience, with 8+ years in low-level systems softwareStrong hands-on Linux kernel development experience — you've written and shipped device drivers, ideally for PCIe devicesStrong C programming skills; comfortable in userspace and kernel spaceAble to read hardware datasheets and register definitions and program a device from them, without waiting for someone to explain the hardwareDeep understanding of computer architecture and OS internals: MMIO, DMA, interrupts, IOMMU, memory hierarchy, processes/threads, virtual memoryExperienced debugging complex hardware/software interaction issues with limited visibilitySelf-driven and comfortable with ambiguity — able to own a component from blank page through bring-up and validation on a small, fast-moving teamBonus Points If You HaveExperience with pre-silicon validation environments (simulation, emulation, FPGA prototyping)First-silicon or new-platform bring-up experience for accelerators, NICs, or SoCsFamiliarity with SR-IOV, dma-buf, peer-to-peer PCIe, or VFIOKernel performance tuning and profiling experience (perf, ftrace, eBPF)Exposure to BMC/host interaction paths (e.g., in-band vs. out-of-band device access, sideband interfaces such as I2C/SMBus)Rust for systems programmingCompensationThe US base salary for this full-time position is determined based on a variety of factors including role, experience, location, job-related skills, and relevant education and training. Career length is only a guideline for compensation.Early Career - $160,000 - $275,000 + equityMid Career - $175,000 - $400,000 + equitySenior Career - $250,000 - $600,000 + equityWhat We OfferTime off: 4 weeks PTO (accrued) + 12 company Holidays + up to 3 weeks remote workHealth: Company-subsidized Medical (Kaiser or Anthem) for employees & dependents, Guardian Dental and Vision insurances for employee & dependents, and life insurance (employee only), plus HSA and FSA offerings via Lively. Financial Wellbeing: Choose from Roth IRA/ 401K (or both) retirement plans with up to 5% company contribution to 401K (even if you don't contribute). Also, 100% company-paid life insurance (up to $300K) and long-term disability insurances.Professional Development: $1500 Professional Development Budget (per year)Team Meals: MatX provides onsite team lunch & dinner Monday - Friday, with your choice of ordering via WeBox, Specialty’s or via our reimbursement systemCommute on Us: Commute on our company Uber account, or reimburse your train rides. Either way, we pay 100% for your daily commute.MatX E[x]tras: $50/mo to use on the perk you value mostCell & Internet Reimbursement: $35/mo for cellular and $40/mo for wifiMental Wellbeing: 100% paid mental health benefit via SpringHealth and Guardian EAP.Support to Parents: Up to 12 weeks paid parental leave regardless of path to parenthood, 10 weeks pregnancy disability leave, flexible return-to-work hours, and Benepass reproductive health & parental benefit.AI Resources: Up to $20K/month plus a dedicated internal AI Tooling Team to support your productivityAs part of our dedication to the diversity of our team and our focus on creating an inviting and inclusive work experience, MatX is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital/domestic partner status, military and veteran status, genetic information or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances.All candidates must be authorized to work in the United States and work from our offices in Mountain View Tuesdays-Thursdays.This position requires access to information that is subject to U.S. export controls. This offer of employment is contingent upon the applicant's capacity to perform job functions in compliance with U.S. export control laws without obtaining a license from U.S. export control authorities.MatX does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third-party recruiting agencies in response to job postings. No fee will be paid to third parties who submit unsolicited candidates directly to our hiring managers or People team and any resumes submitted are deemed to be the property of MatX.LocationMountain View (HQ)Employment TypeFull timeLocation TypeHybridDepartmentHardware