Senior Software Engineer

Western Digital • Roseville, CA

4h • Onsite

About The Position

WDC is a leading innovator in Enterprise Storage Networking. We are looking for a passionate and skilled DevOps Engineer with Linux Kernel and tools expertise to build end-to-end automation for firmware development and system validation. Create custom Linux kernel patches to enable feature development and also upstream kernel changes. Strong PCIe/NVMe protocol knowledge; comfortable with Ethernet and PCIe analyzers.
Today’s exceptional challenges require your unique skills. Together, we can build the future of data storage.

Requirements

• 10+ years of system level programming in C (and some assembly) with a strong track record of shipping low level code
• Deep understanding of Linux OS internals: processes, scheduling, memory management (paging, MMU, slab/slub allocators), VFS, block subsystems, networking stack.
• Direct experience modifying or upstreaming Linux kernel code, not just using kernel APIs.
• Comfort with hardware–software boundaries: interrupts, DMA, device registers, firmware handoff, PCIe, IOMMU, ACPI/DT, boot sequence.
• Automation experience in FW/system validation.
• Expert Python; linux ; kernel modules; Bash; working C/C++ for FW hooks; PowerShell as needed.
• PyTest/Robot Framework; hardware-in-the-loop experience.
• CI/CD expertise (pipelines-as-code, artifacts, secrets, flaky test mgmt).
• PCIe/NVMe, DMA/interrupts, RTOS; lab debug with logic/protocol analyzers.
• Tool integration with Gerrit/Git, Jira, test mgmt, results DBs.
• Proven log analysis and failure bucketing; strong communication/documentation.

Nice To Haves

• Proficiency with Linux kernel build system, Kconfig, cross-compilation, git bisection, patch submission workflow.
• Prior contributions to LKML or to a major subsystem tree.
• Ability to follow kernel coding style, patch series etiquette, and review cycles.
• Strong debugging skills: perf, ftrace, bpftrace, kgdb, crash dumps, static analysis.
• Experience with CI for kernel builds and regression testing, especially with custom hardware.
• CMake/Bazel; cross-compilers; artifact signing.
• Data stack (SQLite/PostgreSQL, Pandas); Grafana/PowerBI dashboards.
• Prior storage FW or networking ASIC validation experience.

Responsibilities

• Design reusable Python/Bash libraries and CLIs for FW build/test/regressions.
• Integrate Docker, Jenkins/GitLab CI/Azure DevOps, Gerrit/Git, Jira, test mgmt systems.
• Create custom Linux Kernel patches and upstream
• Enable FW developers with unit test harnesses, lint/format, emulation adapters.
• Implement telemetry/ETL pipelines for coverage, reliability, and performance KPIs.
• Collaborate across FW/HW/ASIC; document standards and best practices.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed