Consultant (Remote/Anywhere)

 

 

Linux Kernel Consultant (Remote/Anywhere) – Remote

last updated November 20, 2025 4:04 UTC

Collabora

Collabora

 

HQ: Remote

 

OFF: Remote

Full-Time

All Other Remote

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About This Role

Ship kernel code that runs on millions of devices worldwide. You’ll work directly on upstream Linux development for a flagship consumer product while contributing to the broader kernel community. This isn’t just maintenance work, you’ll be solving hard problems and your code goes upstream.

This is both deep technical work AND collaborative consulting, you’ll partner with client engineering teams to solve their toughest kernel challenges while championing upstream-first approaches.

Location: Fully remote (any timezone, preference for overlap with EU/US hours)

Travel: Optional conference attendance

What You’ll Actually Do

Upstream First: Contribute directly to mainline Linux kernel development: schedulers, power management, device drivers and core subsystems

Real-World Impact: Support and optimise Linux for extremely popular consumer devices used by millions of people

Solve Hard Problems: Make Linux do things it can’t currently do. Push the boundaries of what is possible to mould Linux to suit new use cases. Tackle device failures without the luxury of a stack trace, relying on experience and intuition. Just because Linux doesn’t do it currently, doesn’t mean we can’t invent it

Community Collaboration: Work with upstream maintainers and represent Collabora at conferences

Client Partnership: Translate customer needs into technical solutions while advocating for upstream-first approaches. You’ll help clients understand why investing in upstream benefits their long-term goals

Navigate Constraints: Balance technical excellence with real-world pressures: customer deadlines, hardware limitations, business priorities, while keeping code quality high

Be a Technical Advisor: Explain complex kernel decisions to product teams, provide honest timelines and build trust through transparent communication

Mentor & Lead: Share knowledge with the team and help shape our kernel engineering practices

What We’re Looking For

3+ years of Linux kernel development experience

Strong C programming skills and deep understanding of kernel internals

Proven debugging abilities – you can diagnose issues from vague bug reports and limited reproduction steps

Communication skills – good English language skills both spoken and written for patch reviews, documentation and client discussions

Self-directed work style – you thrive in a remote, asynchronous environment

Nice to Have’s

Open source track record – active participation in kernel mailing lists, patch submissions, or subsystem maintenance

Experience with schedulers, power management, Bluetooth, WiFi or audio subsystems

Familiarity with CI/CD for kernel testing (KernelCI, Jenkins, LAVA)

Background in BSP development or board bring-up

Consultancy or client-facing technical background – you know how to balance technical excellence with business constraints, explain kernel internals to product teams, manage expectations across multiple projects and advocate for upstream solutions while respecting customer timelines

Distribution experience (Arch, Debian, Yocto, Buildroot)

Rust programming skills

Previous product support experience

Technical presentation skills – conference talks, customer presentations or internal knowledge sharing

Experience mentoring junior engineers or reviewing others’ kernel patches

What We Offer – Compensation & Benefits

We offer a competitive benefits package tailored to each country in which we have employees, plus a core global benefit offering accessible to all Collaborans. Our core benefits include:

Competitive salary based on experience and location

Office setup budget

Sabbatical/Retention of Services – after five years continuous service

Co-working policy – support for working outside home

Wellness assessments – biannual well-being assessments with a trained mental health specialist

Conference attendance -we cover expenses and encourage speaking opportunities

Open source time – contribute to projects you care about

What We Offer – Work Environment

Fully remote – work where you’re most productive

Global team – engineers across Europe, Americas and Asia

No on-call rotations – this isn’t support work

Sustainable pace – we’re here for the long term

Flexible hours – manage your own schedule

What We Offer – Growth & Impact

Upstream contributions – your work shapes Linux, not just client products

Technical leadership track – path to principal engineer, subsystem expertise or technical architecture roles

Consulting track – develop deeper client relationships, lead customer engagements or shape service offerings

Mentorship opportunities – both receiving and providing guidance

Conference speaking – we support presentation submissions and provide coaching

Recognition – your contributions are public, building your professional reputation

What We Offer – Cultures & Values

Upstream first – we believe the best solutions benefit everyone

Transparency – open discussion about technical decisions, business constraints and project challenges

Pragmatism – perfect is the enemy of good; we ship quality code that solves real problems

Respect for expertise – we trust engineers to make technical decisions

Collaborative – we succeed by working together, internally and with the community

Sustainable pace – we’re here for the long haul, not death marches

Our Interview Process

We respect your time and provide a clear, structured process:

Application Review (within 1 week) – we look at your code and contributions

Initial Chat (30 min) – casual conversation about your experience and our work

Technical Interview (2 – 3h)

Technical Deep-Dive – discuss kernel architecture, past debugging challenges and how you approach problem-solving (no whiteboard coding)

Code Review Session – review real patches together, discuss trade-offs

Client Scenario Discussion – talk through a realistic customer situation:

– balancing technical debt

– timeline pressure

– upstream goals (we want to see your thought process, not a “right answer”)

Head of Consulting Discussion (60 min) – meet the Head of Consulting, ask about day-to-day work and how Collabora works, discuss compensation and benefits

Offer (within 1 week of final interview)

Total timeline: 3-4 weeks from application to offer

We provide feedback at every stage, and you’ll always know where you stand

What Happen’s Next

We’ll acknowledge your application within 2 business days

Initial response within 1 week

Even if we don’t move forward, we’ll tell you why

Collabora’s Commitment

We’re committed to building a diverse team and inclusive environment. We encourage applications from people under-represented in tech

We evaluate candidates based on skills and contributions, not pedigree. If you’re unsure whether you qualify, apply anyway—imposter syndrome is real and you might be exactly who we’re looking for.

We recognise that the combination of deep kernel expertise AND consulting skills is rare. If you’re strong in one area and interested in developing the other, we want to hear from you.