Senior Linux Kernel Driver Engineer

Bristol, United Kingdom
2 months ago
Seniority
Senior
Posted
9 Feb 2026 (2 months ago)

Bristol or London, 3 days in the office, 2 days WFH

At Fractile, we’re building what we believe will be the world’s fastest AI inference chip from the ground up. We're balanced across hardware and software engineering, and HW/SW co-design is real here. We move fast, and we help each other move fast. We care about each other, the software we ship and the people who rely on it.

This role sits at the boundary between host and silicon. The kernel driver is key to keeping pace with our ultra-fast devices on cutting-edge server platforms. It’s a high-leverage layer where each win shows up as real throughput and latency gains.

You’ll be there for the pre-silicon simulations, first bring-up, first end-to-end runs, and the moments where performance jumps because of something you shipped.

What you’ll do

  • Design, develop, and maintain the Linux kernel driver for Fractile’s AI accelerator
  • Build the performance-critical kernel-space paths that keep the host stack moving: PCIe device management, DMA, memory handling, interrupt handling, and robust recovery paths
  • Define and evolve the userspace interface the runtime depends on, with a focus on stability, debuggability, and performance
  • Work in a tight co-design loop with hardware, firmware, runtime and ML engineers: validate assumptions, iterate on behaviour, and close gaps early
  • Improve tooling/workflows so we move fast without breaking things

What we’re looking for

  • You’ve shipped and maintained Linux kernel device drivers in production. Experience with PCIe-attached devices and custom hardware interfaces is ideal.
  • Strong systems and performance instincts. You can reason about computer architecture, concurrency, and where the time goes
  • Excellent C and/or Rust, and a pragmatic approach to building high-quality, maintainable & secure kernel code
  • You enjoy hard kernel and system-level problems, and you take them end-to-end until the measurements move
  • Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Maths, Physics, or related degree and 3+ years of industry experience

Nice to have

  • GPUs / ML accelerators / high‑throughput I/O (NICs, RDMA, storage)
  • Hardware bring‑up or pre‑silicon simulation experience
  • Performance work: profiling, tracing, benchmarking, regression tracking

If you want to build the software where every driver win unlocks huge system performance, come build it together.

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Senior Linux Kernel Driver Engineer

Fractile London, United Kingdom

Senior C++ Software Engineer

ECM Selection Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
£60,000 – £80,000 pa

Senior FPGA Engineer

Enterprise Recruitment Portsmouth, Hampshire, United Kingdom
£60,000 – £95,000 pa

Senior FPGA engineer

Hexwired Recruitment Limited Bristol, Bristol (county), United Kingdom
£70,000 – £90,000 pa

Principal Electronics Engineer

Mars Recruitment Booker, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4UQ, United Kingdom
£70,000 – £72,000 pa

Principal Electronics Hardware Engineer

Mars Recruitment Booker, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4UQ, United Kingdom
£70,000 – £72,000 pa

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Where to Advertise Semiconductor Jobs in the UK (2026 Guide)

Advertising semiconductor jobs in the UK requires a fundamentally different approach to most technical hiring. The candidate pool is one of the smallest and most specialised in any engineering discipline — spanning IC design engineers, process engineers, fab technicians, EDA tool developers, compound semiconductor physicists and power electronics specialists. General job boards are largely ineffective for semiconductor hiring. The community is tight-knit, highly academic in its roots and concentrated around a small number of university groups, fab facilities and design centres. Specialist boards, academic channels and direct community engagement are the primary sourcing strategies that work. This guide, published by SemiconductorJobs.co.uk, covers where to advertise semiconductor roles in the UK in 2026, how the main platforms compare, what employers should expect to pay, and what the data says about hiring across different role types.

New Semiconductor Employers to Watch in 2026: UK and International Companies Transforming Chip Careers

The semiconductor industry is entering a new era of investment, geopolitical significance, and technological innovation. As advanced chips power everything from artificial intelligence and edge computing to autonomous vehicles and 5G infrastructure, demand for skilled professionals across design, verification, fabrication, and test engineering continues to rise. For professionals exploring opportunities on www.SemiconductorJobs.co.uk , understanding which employers are scaling, raising funds, winning contracts, or establishing UK operations is critical. This article highlights the new semiconductor employers to watch in 2026, including UK innovators, major international players expanding locally, and emerging firms driving next‑generation semiconductor technologies.

How Many Semiconductor Tools Do You Need to Know to Get a Semiconductor Job?

If you’re pursuing a career in the semiconductor industry, it can feel like you’re expected to master an endless list of tools, software packages and lab equipment before you even submit a CV. One job advert wants experience with TCAD and process simulation, another mentions SPICE and yield tools, while yet another asks for test automation platforms, yield analysis software, hardware description languages, EDA suites and hundreds of others. With so many technical names thrown around, it’s easy to fall into “tool anxiety” — the feeling that you’re behind because you don’t know every piece of software, every lab instrument and every process control suite. Here’s the honest truth most semiconductor hiring managers won’t say out loud: 👉 They don’t hire you because you know every tool — they hire you because you can use the right tools to solve real engineering problems and explain your reasoning clearly. Tools matter, absolutely. But they exist to help you deliver measurable results — not to be collected like badges. So how many semiconductor tools do you actually need to know to get a job? The answer is a lot fewer than you might think — and far more focused on core capabilities than a long checklist. This guide breaks down what employers really value, which tools are essential, which are role-specific, and how to focus your learning so you are confident and credible.