Principal Kernel Engineer

Job Description

Are you excited by the prospect of working with innovative security products?

Do you enjoy creating innovative and strategic solutions to solve complex problems?

Join Our Team

We build the enforcement agent behind Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, running on millions of workloads across Linux, Windows, and other platforms. It monitors network connections and enforces security policies directly from the kernel in diverse customer environments.

Partner with the best

Join our kernel team, in charge of the network segmentation: building real-time kernel-level enforcement and telemetry for next-generation security products, as well as a new AI Detection and Response (AI-DR) initiative. You’ll develop production-scale software across Linux, Windows, and other platforms, solving complex security challenges. As part of the small senior leaders of the team, you’ll have a direct impact on the product and its technical direction.

As a Principal Kernel Engineer , you will be responsible for:

• Writing and debugging kernel-level C code across our Linux kernel module, Windows kernel driver, and eBPF programs.
• Owning end-to-end debugging of complex production issues, including kernel crashes and low-level system failures, while driving root-cause analysis and post-mortems for production environments.
• Acting as the technical lead for a small team by reviewing critical kernel/eBPF code mentoring engineers, unblocking complex issues, and guiding key technical decisions.

What You'll Bring

To be successful in this role you will:

• Have 5+ years of production C, most of it at the kernel or driver level.
• Have proven production experience with Linux kernel, Windows drivers, or eBPF. Experience across multiple areas is highly preferred.
• Have Hands-on eBPF experience, including writing programs, working with the verifier, and ensuring cross-kernel portability.
• Demonstrate solid understanding of kernel fundamentals, including concurrency, memory safety, and low-level debugging.
• Have experience with kernel software operations, including driver signing, Secure Boot, cross-kernel compatibility, and CI for multi-version environments.
• Possess deep technical judgment and the ability to identify potential issues in kernel code before they reach production.
• Have exceptional ability to debug kernel crashes and other severe bugs.

Build your career at Akamai

Our ability to shape digital life today relies on developing exceptional people like you. The kind that can turn impossible into possible. We’re doing everything we can to make Akamai a great place to work. A place where you can learn, grow and have a meaningful impact.

With our company moving so fast, it’s important that you’re able to build new skills, explore new roles, and try out different opportunities. There are so many different ways to build your career at Akamai, and we want to support you as much as possible. We have all kinds of development opportunities available, from programs such as GROW and Mentoring, to internal events like the APEX Expo and tools such as Linkedin Learning, all to help you expand your knowledge and experience here.

Learn more

Not sure if this job is the right match for you or want to learn more about the job before you apply? Schedule a 15-minute exploratory call with the Recruiter and they would be happy to share more details.