Linux Kernel Consultant (Remote/Anywhere)

About this role

Ship kernel code that runs on millions of devices worldwide. You'll work directly on upstream Linux development for a flagship consumer product while contributing to the broader kernel community. This isn't just maintenance work, you'll be solving hard problems and your code goes upstream. This role suits an engineer who wants to go deep: you will have the space to develop genuine subsystem expertise, build your upstream profile and grow into technical leadership over time.

This role combines deep technical work with collaborative consulting. You will partner with client engineering teams to solve their toughest kernel challenges while championing upstream-first approaches.

Location: Fully remote (preference for EU or East Coast US hours)

Travel: Optional conference attendance

What you'll actually do

• Upstream First: Contribute directly to mainline Linux kernel development: schedulers, power management, device drivers and core subsystems
• Real-World Impact: Support and optimise Linux for extremely popular consumer devices used by millions of people
• Solve Hard Problems: Make Linux do things it can't currently do. Push the boundaries of what is possible to mould Linux to suit new use cases. Tackle device failures without the luxury of a stack trace, relying on experience and intuition. Just because Linux doesn't do it currently, doesn't mean we can't invent it.
• Community Collaboration: Work with upstream maintainers and represent Collabora at conferences
• Client Partnership: Translate customer needs into technical solutions while advocating for upstream-first approaches. You'll help clients understand why investing in upstream benefits their long-term goals
• Navigate Constraints: Balance technical excellence with real-world pressures: customer deadlines, hardware limitations, business priorities, while keeping code quality high
• Be a Technical Advisor: Explain complex kernel decisions to product teams, provide honest timelines and build trust through transparent communication

What we're looking for

Required

• Product support experience, you are comfortable diagnosing and resolving issues reported by end-users which often require dedication to reproduce from vague bug reports and limited reproduction steps
• Solid Linux kernel development experience, you have spent meaningful time working in the kernel and are comfortable navigating unfamiliar subsystems independently. You do not need to have seen everything, but you should know how to find your way. We are looking for someone who is still building their reputation in the upstream community and wants a role that accelerates that.
• Strong English communication skills, both spoken and written for patch reviews, documentation and client discussions
• Self-directed work style - you thrive in a remote, asynchronous environment

Nice to have

• Upstream contribution history, we know not every employer makes this easy. If you haven't had the opportunity yet, we'll help you build that profile as part of the role
• Consultancy or client-facing technical background, you know how to balance technical excellence with business constraints, explain kernel internals to product teams, manage expectations across multiple projects and advocate for upstream solutions while respecting customer timelines
• Experience with schedulers, power management, Bluetooth, WiFi or audio subsystems
• Familiarity with CI/CD for kernel testing (KernelCI, Jenkins, LAVA)
• Background in BSP development or board bring-up
• Distribution experience (Arch, Debian, Yocto, Buildroot)
• Rust programming skills

What we offer

Compensation & Benefits

We offer a competitive benefits package tailored to each country in which we have employees, plus a core global benefit offering accessible to all Collaborans. Our core benefits include:

• Competitive salary - Salary is location-dependent and benchmarked against local market data. We ask candidates to share their expectations during the application process and engage with those honestly
• Conference attendance - we cover expenses and encourage speaking opportunities
• Open source time - contribute to projects you care about
• Office setup budget
• Sabbatical/Retention of Services, available after five years continuous service
• Co-working policy - support for working outside home
• Wellness assessments - biannual well-being assessments with a trained mental health specialist

Work Environment

• Fully remote - work where you’re most productive
• Global team - engineers across Europe, Americas and Asia
• No on-call rotations - while the role involves supporting client engineering teams, there are no on-call rotations or out-of-hours incident response expectations
• Flexible hours - manage your own schedule

Growth & Impact

• Upstream contributions - your work shapes Linux, not just client products
• Technical leadership track - path to principal engineer, subsystem expertise or technical architecture roles
• Consulting track - develop deeper client relationships, lead customer engagements or shape service offerings
• Mentorship opportunities - both receiving and providing guidance
• Conference speaking - we support presentation submissions and provide coaching
• Recognition - your contributions are public, building your professional reputation

Culture & Values

• Upstream first - we believe the best solutions benefit everyone
• Transparency - open discussion about technical decisions, business constraints and project challenges
• Pragmatism - perfect is the enemy of good; we ship quality code that solves real problems
• Respect for expertise - we trust engineers to make technical decisions
• Collaborative - we succeed by working together, internally and with the community
• Sustainable pace - we're here for the marathon, not the sprint

A day in the life

Morning (your timezone)

• Review overnight mailing-list discussions on your subsystem(s)
• Triage new customer issue reports
• Respond to client question about kernel panic they're investigating
• Pair debug session with colleague on tricky scheduler behaviour

Midday

• Deep work: finish patch series for power management optimisation
• Quick video call with customer team to explain your proposed approach and timeline
• Review and test colleague's patch before they submit upstream

Afternoon

• Respond to upstream maintainer feedback on your RFC patch
• Update client on progress, discuss trade-offs between fast fix vs. upstream-ready solution
• Join optional team "office hours" to discuss architecture decision
• Write kernel commit message that explains the "why" for future maintainers

Some days are deep technical work, others involve more client communication. You'll balance both based on project needs and your strengths.

Our Interview Process

We respect your time and provide a clear, structured process:

• Application Review (within 1 week) - we look at your code and contributions
• Initial Chat (30 min) - casual conversation about your experience and our work
• Technical Interview (2 - 3h)
  • Technical Deep-Dive - discuss kernel architecture, past debugging challenges and how you approach problem-solving (no whiteboard coding)
  • Code Review Session - review real patches together, discuss trade-offs
  • Client Scenario Discussion - talk through a realistic customer situation: balancing technical debt, timeline pressure and upstream goals. We want to see your thought process, not a "right answer"
• Head of Open Source Software Consulting team Discussion (60 min) - meet the Head of Open Source Software Consulting team, ask about day-to-day work and how Collabora works, discuss compensation and benefits
• Offer (1 week of final interview)

Total timeline: 3-4 weeks from application to offer

What happens next?

• Initial response within 1 week
• Even if we don't move forward, we'll tell you why

Collabora's Commitment

We're committed to building a diverse team and inclusive environment. We encourage applications from people under-represented in tech.

We evaluate candidates based on skills and contributions, not pedigree. If you're unsure whether you qualify, apply anyway-imposter syndrome is real and you might be exactly who we're looking for.

We recognise that the combination of deep kernel expertise and consulting skills is rare. If you have strong kernel development experience and are newer to the consulting side of the role, or vice versa, we want to hear from you. We can develop one if the other is solid.