Principal Software Engineer - RHEL Image Mode (bootc)

About The Job: Red Hat Engineering is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join the RHEL Image Mode team and the upstream bootc (bootable containers) ecosystem. In this role, you will lead the design and implementation of next-generation container-native operating systems that involve multiple components, coordinating across various engineering teams to set technical standards. As a technical leader, you will drive the architecture of bootc and its integration within the broader Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) portfolio. This position requires a deep, low-level understanding of the Linux operating system combined with experience in Rust. You will be responsible for defining technical strategies, cross-subsystem feature development, and guiding the software development lifecycle to scale effectively. What will you do? Lead the design and development of software solutions and features for RHEL Image Mode that cross multiple subsystems or components, ensuring seamless integration between container runtimes and low-level boot mechanisms. Act as an expert across multiple areas of the core tech stack, designing and implementing multi-component systems that span across teams while making critical architectural decisions. Establish, maintain, and monitor automated testing and quality assurance practices involving multiple components and teams to ensure the stability of bootable container deployment. Act as a key representative and leader within the upstream bootc-dev CNCF and other communities, advocating for customer needs while aligning open-source community goals with product strategy. Coach and mentor engineers across multiple teams, fostering technical growth and establishing best engineering practices throughout the organization. Own and deliver high-visibility technical initiatives with clear business impact, enabling product teams and the wider organization to deliver value to end-users. Lead the definition and implementation of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) for complex, multi-component systems, ensuring the process scales effectively and aligns with strict security and reliability standards. Evaluate and introduce new AI-driven methodologies and workflows within the engineering group to resolve complex development issues and improve overall team efficiency. What will you bring? Deep understanding of low-level Linux operating system concepts (e.g., bootloaders, storage/partitioning, systemd, kernel-space/user-space boundaries, and root filesystems). Proven experience writing, debugging, and reviewing complex software in Rust. Demonstrated track record as a technical authority leading the design of software architectures that span across multiple subsystems or organizational teams. Strong knowledge of container technologies and standards (OCI specifications, container images as transport/delivery mechanisms, podman/docker runtimes). Expert-level mastery of version control, continuous integration/delivery architectures, and operating across diverse hardware architectures. Superb written and verbal communication skills in English, with a proven ability to author definitive design documents, technical proposals, and align stakeholders across business units. The following are considered a plus: Practical experience evaluating, constructing, or integrating Agentic AI tools and autonomous workflows (e.g., custom AI agent skills, OpenCode, or code-generation orchestration) to optimize engineering pipelines and system automation. Experience presenting complex architectural topics at major industry conferences (e.g., KubeCon, DevConf, Red Hat Summit) and authoring deep-dive technical blog posts, whitepapers, or RFCs to drive community engagement and adoption Significant experience contributing to, maintaining, or leading initiatives within open-source communities and working with distributed teams. Experience contributing to Linux distributions (RHEL, Fedora, CentOS Stream, Debian, etc.). Understanding of ostree, rpm-ostree, or image-based provisioning systems. About Red Hat Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver high-performing Linux, cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Spread across 40+ countries, our associates work flexibly across work environments, from in-office, to office-flex, to fully remote, depending on the requirements of their role. 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