Software Engineer - Linux kernel, EFA

Amazon is hiring a Software Engineer - Linux kernel, EFA in Haifa, Israel. Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

Builds AI ●●●● is how Level rates this software engineer role: the job is building AI systems.
Tools and skills the posting cites include Linux, C and Rdma Core.
Level classifies it as a senior role.
Level lists 20,000+ other open roles at Amazon.

AI in this role

Design and optimize Linux kernel drivers and networking infrastructure to accelerate large-scale AI training and inference.

LinuxCRdma Core

linux-kernelsystems-programmingnetworkingdistributed-systems

Are you passionate about systems programming at the intersection of hardware and software? Do you want your code to directly accelerate the world's largest AI training and inference workloads? The Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) Drivers team is looking for Software Development Engineers to design and implement the kernel drivers and userspace libraries that power high-performance networking for AWS's AI/ML and HPC infrastructure.

EFA is the custom network interface that enables thousands of GPUs and accelerators to communicate at near-wire-speed bandwidth and low latency, making it a critical enabler of both foundation model training and real-time inference serving at unprecedented scale. When customers train the next generation of large language models or serve billions of inference requests with tight latency SLAs on Amazon EC2 P5, P6, or Trn instances, it's our driver stack that moves the data.

Key job responsibilities
- Design, develop, and optimize Linux kernel drivers (RDMA/EFA) and userspace provider libraries (rdma-core) that ship to millions of EC2 instances
- Work directly with custom hardware — collaborate with chip designers to bring new silicon capabilities to life in software
- Contribute to the upstream Linux kernel RDMA subsystem and rdma-core open-source project
- Architect solutions for next-generation networking features: GPU-direct RDMA, adaptive routing, collective offloads, and multi-path transport
- Build monitoring and automation tools to enhance driver testing for functionality, reliability, and performance
- Own the full lifecycle: from initial hardware bring-up and feature enablement through testing, deployment, and production troubleshooting across the global AWS fleet

Basic qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field
- 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience in C/C++
- Experience contributing to the architecture and design (architecture, design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and current systems

Preferred qualifications

- 3+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
- Experience in debugging, profiling, and implementing software engineering best practices in large-scale systems
- Experience writing low level drivers
- Experience with DMA, PCIe, or hardware/software co-design
- Contributions to open-source projects or upstream kernel work

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

How we rate this

Software Engineer - Linux kernel, EFA at Amazon rates 85 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Software Engineer - Linux kernel, EFA is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The role is based in IL, Haifa.
The job was posted on September 9, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
Applications are handled by Amazon. Apply on Amazon

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Linux KernelSystems ProgrammingNetworkingDistributed SystemsLinuxCRdma Core

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python Machine learning AI agents Kubernetes Java Generative AI

Pay

Typical software engineer job: $167k

This posting doesn't list pay. Use the typical software engineer figure when pay comes up. See software engineer jobs

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where linux kernel was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where systems programming was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where networking was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where distributed systems was part of your work. What did you do?
Walk me through how you've used Linux in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Linux Kernel, Systems Programming, Networking, Distributed Systems, and Linux. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.

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