Principal Software Engineer - Developer Tools, Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System

Red River•Raleigh, NC

About The Position

Red Hat's Engineering team is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to participate in the development and implementation of our next-generation Developer Tools for the Automotive Program. This role focuses on building a seamless, robust, and efficient developer experience for engineers creating and deploying software onto the Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System and related platforms. You will act as technical authority, driving the creation and refinement of tools—including IDE extensions—that accelerate our partners' ability to develop for Red Hat’s automotive platform. At Red Hat, our commitment to open source innovation extends beyond our products - it’s embedded in how we work and grow. Red Hatters embrace change – especially in our fast-moving technological landscape – and have a strong growth mindset. That's why we encourage our teams to proactively, thoughtfully, and ethically use AI to simplify their workflows, cut complexity, and boost efficiency. This empowers our associates to focus on higher-impact work, creating smart, more innovative solutions that solve our customers' most pressing challenges.

Requirements

8+ years of professional experience in software engineering, with a significant focus on developer tooling, IDEs, or high-level platform enablement.
Expertise in at least one object-oriented language (e.g., Go, Python) and advanced proficiency in technologies like TypeScript/JavaScript and Node.js.
Proven experience designing and developing VS Code extensions, plugins, or similar IDE integration components (e.g., Eclipse, IntelliJ).
Deep practical understanding of the Linux ecosystem, containerization technologies (Kubernetes, OpenShift, Podman/Docker), and experience with cloud-native or edge computing platforms.
Experience with UI design, as we anticipate some front-end work on our tooling interfaces.
Strong technical leadership, with a demonstrated ability to drive complex cross-team technical initiatives and mentor other developers.
Excellent communication, presentation, and collaboration skills, capable of engaging effectively with engineering teams, product management, and external partners.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with embedded systems, automotive development tools, or in-vehicle software deployment and testing.
A solid understanding of networking, virtualization, and distributed systems implementation.
Recognized contributions to major open-source projects or developer tool communities.
Experience with UI development using React and/or PatternFly.

Responsibilities

Lead the development of new features within our development environment offerings to streamline remote development on the Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System platform.
Take ownership of major tool features, driving them from conception through to high-quality, production-ready release, ensuring they meet functional requirements and performance goals.
Implement tight integration between developer tools and core RHIVOS components.
Engage with and contribute to relevant open-source communities (tooling, containers, and automotive-related projects), ensuring our productized tools align with community best practices.
Establish and champion engineering best practices, conduct thorough and thoughtful code reviews, and provide expert mentorship and guidance to engineers across the global development team.
Collaborate directly with key automotive partners and internal field teams to understand complex user requirements and translate them into practical, high-impact tool functionality.
Ensure high standards of quality by implementing robust unit, integration, and end-to-end tests for all delivered tooling components.
Experience with UI design, as we anticipate some front-end work on our tooling interfaces.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
Flexible Spending Account - healthcare and dependent care
Health Savings Account - high deductible medical plan
Retirement 401(k) with employer match
Paid time off and holidays
Paid parental leave plans for all new parents
Leave benefits including disability, paid family medical leave, and paid military leave
Additional benefits including employee stock purchase plan, family planning reimbursement, tuition reimbursement, transportation expense account, employee assistance program, and more!

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