Systems Software Engineer, Embedded Linux Distribution

About the company

Our client is a global automotive technology company developing high-performance computer vision silicon and software for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving. Its technology is deployed in production vehicles worldwide.

About the role

You will join the Platform Software organisation, working within the Operating System team responsible for the core Linux platform running on a proprietary automotive computer vision SoC.

The role sits within the Core Distribution function, focusing on Linux userspace, distribution composition, service bring-up and the integration of vendor SDKs into the OS image. You will also develop Python-based tooling to enable reproducible provisioning and deployment of the operating system and software stack across target hardware.

This position is based in Munich, applicants must have a right to work in Europe.

Key responsibilities

• Develop Linux userspace and service bring-up to ensure reliable, consistent system boot and operation under embedded constraints.
• Integrate vendor SDKs, drivers, libraries and runtimes into custom Linux images.
• Own distribution composition, including packages, sysroots, filesystem layout and image configuration.
• Develop Python tooling for image delivery, flashing, target provisioning and environment setup.
• Debug system-level issues involving init systems, services, dependencies, library and ABI compatibility, and runtime integration.
• Conduct root cause analysis across the boot process, userspace and application runtime layers.
• Support board bring-up and platform enablement for new SoC generations and associated hardware.

Requirements

• Degree in Computer Science or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of Embedded Linux development, with a strong focus on systems software, userspace or Linux distribution engineering.
• Strong C/C++ skills and understanding of POSIX APIs, system libraries and userspace/kernel interactions.
• Deep understanding of the Linux boot process, bootloaders, kernel hand-off, init systems and root filesystem architecture.
• Hands-on experience building or maintaining embedded Linux distributions using Yocto, Buildroot or Linux From Scratch.
• Experience integrating vendor SDKs, BSPs, third-party drivers and userspace components into custom Linux images.
• Practical debugging experience using tools such as GDB, Valgrind, strace and perf.
• Python proficiency for deployment automation, packaging and infrastructure tooling.

Desirable experience

• Automotive embedded software development.
• GPU or accelerator compute stacks, including drivers, userspace runtimes, inference or compute libraries, and cross-compilation/sysroot workflows.
• Ability to interpret hardware schematics and understand basic hardware interfaces and signals.