Principal Software Engineer - RHEL Image Mode (bootc)

About The Job

Red Hat Engineering is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join the RHEL Image Mode team and the upstream bootc (bootable containers) ecosystem. In this role, you will lead the design and implementation of next-generation container-native operating systems that involve multiple components, coordinating across various engineering teams to set technical standards.

As a technical leader, you will drive the architecture of bootc and its integration within the broader Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) portfolio. This position requires a deep, low-level understanding of the Linux operating system combined with experience in Rust. You will be responsible for defining technical strategies, cross-subsystem feature development, and guiding the software development lifecycle to scale effectively.

What will you do?

• Lead the design and development of software solutions and features for RHEL Image Mode that cross multiple subsystems or components, ensuring seamless integration between container runtimes and low-level boot mechanisms.
• Act as an expert across multiple areas of the core tech stack, designing and implementing multi-component systems that span across teams while making critical architectural decisions.
• Establish, maintain, and monitor automated testing and quality assurance practices involving multiple components and teams to ensure the stability of bootable container deployment.
• Act as a key representative and leader within the upstream bootc-dev CNCF and other communities, advocating for customer needs while aligning open-source community goals with product strategy.
• Coach and mentor engineers across multiple teams, fostering technical growth and establishing best engineering practices throughout the organization.
• Own and deliver high-visibility technical initiatives with clear business impact, enabling product teams and the wider organization to deliver value to end-users.
• Lead the definition and implementation of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) for complex, multi-component systems, ensuring the process scales effectively and aligns with strict security and reliability standards.
• Evaluate and introduce new AI-driven methodologies and workflows within the engineering group to resolve complex development issues and improve overall team efficiency.

What will you bring?

• Deep understanding of low-level Linux operating system concepts (e.g., bootloaders, storage/partitioning, systemd, kernel-space/user-space boundaries, and root filesystems).
• Proven experience writing, debugging, and reviewing complex software in Rust.
• Demonstrated track record as a technical authority leading the design of software architectures that span across multiple subsystems or organizational teams.
• Strong knowledge of container technologies and standards (OCI specifications, container images as transport/delivery mechanisms, podman/docker runtimes).
• Expert-level mastery of version control, continuous integration/delivery architectures, and operating across diverse hardware architectures.
• Superb written and verbal communication skills in English, with a proven ability to author definitive design documents, technical proposals, and align stakeholders across business units.

The Following Are Considered a Plus

• Practical experience evaluating, constructing, or integrating Agentic AI tools and autonomous workflows (e.g., custom AI agent skills, OpenCode, or code-generation orchestration) to optimize engineering pipelines and system automation.
• Experience presenting complex architectural topics at major industry conferences (e.g., KubeCon, DevConf, Red Hat Summit) and authoring deep-dive technical blog posts, whitepapers, or RFCs to drive community engagement and adoption.
• Significant experience contributing to, maintaining, or leading initiatives within open-source communities and working with distributed teams.
• Experience contributing to Linux distributions (RHEL, Fedora, CentOS Stream, Debian, etc.).