{"id":734808,"url":"https://alion.io/job/cylake-windows-system-software-engineer","title":"Windows System Software Engineer","company":{"id":673604,"name":"Cylake","domain":"cylake.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/cylake","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":6,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-09-28T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"DevOps","role_family":"DevOps","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Sunnyvale, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":150000,"max":250000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":250000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"WinDbg","optional":false},{"name":"Windows","optional":false},{"name":"Assembly","optional":true},{"name":"Rust","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-20T18:26:35Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-07-20","last_verified_at":"2026-09-28T22:04:39Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":70,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":70},"description":"Your Impact\nJoin a small team building the next generation of cybersecurity products from the ground up. Led by industry veterans with a proven track record of success - you will get to architect, build, and deliver hugely impactful products with this world class team. You will have the opportunity to grow your career and skills along with the company from the very start.\nRole Overview\nWe are looking for an exceptional Windows systems engineer with deep expertise in Windows kernel internals, operating system architecture, and endpoint technologies, who understands Windows below the Win32 API, from the NT kernel and executive subsystems to process lifetime management, memory internals, and modern platform security.\nThis is not an application development, framework engineering or WinAPI-only developer role.\nYou'll be designing and building the low-level endpoint infrastructure that powers real-time telemetry, behavioral detection, and system instrumentation across modern Windows environments.\nYou'll work across kernel-mode and user-mode, developing production-grade systems that operate reliably in highly concurrent, security-sensitive environments.\nWhat you’ll do:\nWindows Kernel Engineering\nDesign and develop production-quality Windows kernel drivers using WDM/WDF.\n\nBuild kernel instrumentation and telemetry pipelines for endpoint visibility.\n\nDevelop high-performance process, thread, and image lifecycle tracking.\n\nImplement scalable kernel callback infrastructure using:\nProcess notifications\n\nThread notifications\n\nImage load notifications\n\nObject callbacks\n\nRegistry callbacks\n\nDesign lock-efficient kernel data structures and synchronization strategies.\n\nBuild reliable user/kernel communication mechanisms.\n\nDebug complex concurrency, synchronization, and memory issues.\n\nWindows Systems & Internals\nWork directly with Windows NT internals beyond documented APIs.\n\nBuild systems that understand process, thread, memory, and object lifecycles.\n\nAnalyze scheduler behavior, process creation, and teardown.\n\nWork with Windows internals including:\nMemory management\n\nObject Manager\n\nExecutive subsystems\n\nETW\n\nALPC\n\nHandle tables\n\nTokens\n\nRegistry internals\n\nInvestigate compatibility across multiple Windows releases.\n\nDebug boot-time, runtime, and kernel crash scenarios.\n\nEndpoint & Security Engineering\nDesign telemetry systems that power endpoint detection and response.\n\nBuild behavioral detection capabilities using operating system telemetry.\n\nResearch modern attack techniques and operating system abuse.\n\nImprove visibility into process execution, code loading, and system activity.\n\nDesign resilient monitoring systems that operate in complex enterprise environments.\n\nEvaluate modern Windows security features and how they impact endpoint architecture.\n\nReverse Engineering & Debugging\nAnalyze Windows internals and system behavior.\n\nDebug kernel crashes, memory corruption, and race conditions.\n\nReverse engineer operating system components when documentation is unavailable.\n\nUse debugging and reverse engineering tools to understand low-level execution paths.\n\nWhat We're Looking For\nRequired Experience\nExtensive experience building low-level Windows systems software.\n\nDeep expertise in Windows kernel architecture and NT internals.\n\nExtensive experience developing Windows kernel drivers.\n\nStrong knowledge of process, thread, memory, and object management.\n\nExpert-level C/C++ programming skills.\n\nExperience debugging complex multithreaded systems.\n\nStrong understanding of synchronization, paging, interrupts, and x64 architecture.\n\nExperience using WinDbg and kernel debugging tools.\n\nAbility to reason about undocumented operating system behavior through analysis and debugging.\n\nNice to Have\nRust experience.\n\nFilesystem minifilters.\n\nWindows Filtering Platform (WFP) or NDIS.\n\nETW provider development.\n\nHypervisor technologies (VT-x / AMD-V).\n\nSecure Kernel, VBS, or HVCI knowledge.\n\nMemory forensics or reverse engineering experience.\n\nSymbol parsing and Windows build analysis.\n\nWe offer competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package designed to support our employees’ health, well-being, and long-term success. The expected salary range for this position is $150,000 - $250,000 per year. Within this range, individual pay is determined based on job-related factors including skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity. Most candidates can expect an offer within the range listed above. Your recruiter will provide additional details on compensation and benefits to qualified candidates during the hiring process.\nWe’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive workplace where everyone can do their best work. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please let us know - we’re happy to support you.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5089,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Network Security","Security Operations"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-11T10:42:07Z"}],"liveness":{"score":9,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.32,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":69,"expected_fill_days":21,"reasons":["conf:3","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-09-28T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":250000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/cylake-windows-system-software-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/cylake-windows-system-software-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-09-29T03:33:12Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3253,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":1747,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-09-30T00:00:00Z"}}}