Staff Software Engineer - Linux Kernel

San Francisco, CARemoteFull-time$211k2026-10-07 → 2026-11-10

Hybrid

Core

Own technical problems end-to-end for the Linux kernel running on Fastly's global edge network, spanning networking, XDP, eBPF, memory, and hardware enablement.

Role type

Staff Software Engineer (Linux Kernel)

Builds

The Linux kernel and kernel modules for a distributed edge cloud platform serving thousands of servers.

Domain

Cloud Infrastructure / Operating Systems / Networking

Required skills

Linux kernel development, C programming, XDP, eBPF, network stack (TCP/IP), distributed systems, operational discipline

Preferred skills

Upstream kernel contributions, Transport protocols (QUIC, TCP, ECN), Hardware enablement (AMD EPYC, Intel), Container networking

Technologies

Linux, C, XDP, eBPF, KASAN, kdump, ftrace, perf, bpftrace, TCP/IP, QUIC

Responsibilities

Set technical direction and mentor engineers; onboard new hardware (servers, CPUs, NICs); debug cross-layer issues; maintain kernel changes and upstream patches; ensure safe state application in eBPF/XDP; own kernel health and incident response; manage release processes and rollouts.

Seniority

Staff, hands-on IC with technical leadership

About Fastly

Fastly helps people stay better connected with the things they love. Fastly’s edge cloud platform enables customers to create great digital experiences quickly, securely, and reliably by processing, serving, and securing our customers’ applications as close to their end-users as possible — at the edge of the Internet. The platform is designed to take advantage of the modern internet, to be programmable, and to support agile software development. Fastly’s customers include many of the world’s most prominent companies, including GitHub, Yelp, Paramount, and JetBlue.