Senior Enterprise Linux Kernel Specialist

Job Title: Senior Enterprise Linux Kernel Specialist

Location: United Arab Emirates (Remote)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Work Arrangement: 100% Remote — Work From Home

Level: Senior

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Enterprise Linux Kernel Specialist to design, troubleshoot, optimize, and maintain Linux kernel environments across enterprise computing infrastructure. The successful candidate will focus on kernel stability, performance tuning, hardware compatibility, security hardening, and advanced operating system diagnostics to ensure reliable and efficient production systems.

This role requires deep technical knowledge of Linux internals, kernel modules, system calls, memory management, process scheduling, networking, and device drivers. You will collaborate with infrastructure engineering, platform operations, cybersecurity, and application teams to resolve complex kernel-level issues and improve the reliability, security, and performance of enterprise Linux platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Administer, configure, and optimize Linux kernel environments across enterprise servers, virtual machines, and cloud infrastructure.
• Analyze kernel architecture, process scheduling, memory management, system calls, interrupt handling, and I/O operations to diagnose complex system behavior.
• Investigate kernel panics, system hangs, memory leaks, driver failures, boot issues, and unexpected operating system crashes.
• Manage kernel upgrades, security patches, configuration changes, and lifecycle maintenance while minimizing operational risk.
• Build, configure, test, and maintain kernel modules and device drivers where required by infrastructure or application workloads.
• Perform kernel performance tuning for CPU utilization, memory allocation, storage I/O, network throughput, and workload scheduling.
• Troubleshoot hardware and software compatibility issues involving enterprise servers, storage systems, network interfaces, and virtualization platforms.
• Analyze kernel logs, crash dumps, tracing output, and system performance data using appropriate debugging and diagnostic tools.
• Implement kernel security hardening measures, including access restrictions, security configuration baselines, and vulnerability remediation.
• Evaluate kernel updates and patches for compatibility, stability, security impact, and performance regression before production deployment.
• Develop scripts and automation workflows for kernel configuration audits, patch compliance, diagnostics, and system validation.
• Collaborate with distribution vendors and hardware manufacturers to resolve complex kernel defects and platform-specific issues.
• Maintain kernel configuration standards, technical documentation, troubleshooting procedures, and operational runbooks.
• Support incident response, root-cause analysis, and post-incident reviews involving kernel-level failures.
• Provide technical guidance to infrastructure engineers and operations teams on Linux internals, debugging practices, and system reliability.
• Recommend improvements to kernel lifecycle management, observability, system resilience, and operational efficiency.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical discipline.
• Significant experience in Linux systems engineering, kernel development, operating system administration, or platform reliability engineering.
• Strong understanding of Linux kernel internals, including process management, virtual memory, filesystems, networking, scheduling, and device drivers.
• Practical experience with enterprise Linux distributions such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu Server, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, or comparable platforms.
• Experience diagnosing kernel panics, analyzing crash dumps, investigating system hangs, and resolving complex performance issues.
• Familiarity with tools such as GDB, ftrace, perf, eBPF-based diagnostics, SystemTap, and kernel log analysis utilities.
• Knowledge of kernel compilation, configuration, module management, patching, and controlled deployment practices.
• Understanding of Linux security mechanisms, including SELinux, AppArmor, secure boot, kernel hardening, and vulnerability management.
• Experience with virtualization, container runtimes, and cloud infrastructure running Linux workloads.
• Proficiency in C programming and scripting with Bash or Python; experience with kernel-level debugging is highly desirable.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, documentation, and incident management skills.
• Ability to work independently, lead technical investigations, and collaborate with distributed engineering teams.
• Relevant Linux, cloud infrastructure, or systems engineering certifications are an advantage.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Kernel Stability: Reduction in kernel panics, system crashes, and kernel-related production incidents.
• Performance Optimization: Measurable improvements in system throughput, latency, and resource utilization.
• Patch Compliance: Timely deployment of approved kernel security updates and critical fixes.
• Incident Resolution: Time required to diagnose and resolve kernel-level failures.
• Change Success Rate: Percentage of kernel upgrades and configuration changes completed without significant disruption.
• Security Posture: Compliance with approved kernel hardening standards and vulnerability remediation targets.
• Documentation Quality: Accuracy and completeness of kernel configuration records, diagnostic procedures, and incident reports.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation based on qualifications and relevant experience.
• Fully remote work-from-home arrangements.
• Opportunities to work on complex enterprise Linux platforms and advanced operating system challenges.
• Professional development in kernel engineering, performance optimization, infrastructure security, and systems reliability.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit an updated CV highlighting their experience with Linux kernel internals, system debugging, performance tuning, kernel patch management, and enterprise operating system environments.

Please include examples of complex kernel issues resolved, performance improvements delivered, and major infrastructure incidents investigated.

Email Subject: Application – Senior Enterprise Linux Kernel Specialist (United Arab Emirates Remote)

• Candidates should confirm applicable employment arrangements, residency requirements, and work authorization before accepting an offer.