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# Principal Software Engineer, Linux Kernel - Isovalent

- **Company:** Cisco
- **Location:** Amsterdam, Netherlands
- **Experience:** Experienced
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Clean Code Principles, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Cloud Engineering, Software Quality, Linux, Distributed Systems, Network Security, Linux Kernel, Open Source Technology, Cloud Platform System, Kubernetes, Information Technology, Cisco
- **Published:** September 2, 2026
- **Apply:** https://dejobs.org/x/x/4363C4154574495A89FD9561368226B3/job/

## About the Role

* Bachelors Computer Science degree, or related fields
 * 2+ years of upstream Linux kernel track record
 * 5+ years of experience in C
 * A public track record of open-source code commits is a must, * Expert knowledge about Linux systems design, performance, security and/or networking, Linux kernel
 * 5+ years of upstream Linux kernel track record
 * 5+ years of experience in C, BPF as well as Go
 * Desire to write high quality and efficient code
 * Highly self-driven working individual
 * Experience designing and implementing APIs
 * Experience from working with production systems at scale, networking background is always a plus
 * Experience with Kubernetes, Cloud Native workloads and/or distributed systems

## Description

Cisco Isovalent is seeking a skilled and experienced Software Engineer with long-term experience and upstream reputation in the Linux kernel community to develop forward looking features and functionality related to BPF, networking and/or security in the Linux kernel as well as bringing the latter into Cilium and/or Tetragon. You will work with a highly collaborative and skilled team to build solutions that advance the next generation of networking and security in Kubernetes and cloud native environments.

What you'll do:

 * Lead design and development of new Linux kernel functionality in the areas of BPF, the networking stack and/or the security subsystem and bring the new functionality into Cilium/Tetragon.
 * Collaborate in a small technical team working on forward-looking features, but also actively collaborate in the upstream Linux kernel community.
 * Engage with the team across engineering, product, and customers to align on future technical direction with business needs.
 * Possibility to speak at technical conferences to present and discuss your work (e.g., KubeCon, Linux Plumbers, LSF/MM/BPF).
 * Contribute to and uphold engineering best practices, code quality, and operational excellence.


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