Senior Software Maintenance Engineer

About the Job

The Red Hat Sustaining Engineering team is looking for a Senior Software Maintenance Engineer to improve the long-term product experience for our Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) customers. In this role, you'll be a leader in the maintenance of RHEL, ensuring the stability and quality of our extended life streams (EUS, TUS, E4S, ELS, etc.). You'll work closely with Product Engineering and other global teams to address defects, bugs, and CVEs, ensuring timely and high-quality patch delivery to our customers.

You'll also co-lead our patch review process and develop automation tools to improve the efficiency and quality of our maintenance workflows.

What You Will Do

• Lead teams in resolving complex issues, including diagnosing the root cause of failures.

• Manage RHEL updates in stable streams by backporting critical security fixes and bugs.

• Develop, configure, and execute tests and test frameworks to verify fixes.

• Collaborate with various teams (Product Engineering, Quality Engineering, and Program Management) to deliver timely updates.

• Contribute to the vision and innovation of new RHEL maintenance offerings.

• Proactively utilize AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code) for code generation, auto-completion, and intelligent suggestions to accelerate development cycles and enhance code quality.

What You Will Bring

• 6+ years in software or quality engineering.

• Outstanding debugging, troubleshooting, and analytical skills.

• A strong background in Linux kernel or userspace building, development, and testing.

• Proficiency in C and scripting with Python and/or Bash.

• Experience leading and mentoring engineers to solve complex problems within a global team.

• Ability to leverage LLMs (e.g., Google Gemini) to enhance development efficiency through advanced research, technical documentation, and complex problem-solving.

• Excellent communication, a diligent work ethic, and the ability to work under tight deadlines.

The following are considered a plus:

• Open source communities and upstream contributions.

• Software test planning and automation.

• Cloud computing platforms (AWS, Azure, etc.).

• Using GitLab and Git in contributor roles.

• CVE systems and solution delivery processes.

#LI-EK1

The salary range for this position is $105,860.00 - $169,340.00. Actual offer will be based on your qualifications.

Pay Transparency

Red Hat determines compensation based on several factors including but not limited to job location, experience, applicable skills and training, external market value, and internal pay equity. Annual salary is one component of Red Hat’s compensation package. This position may also be eligible for bonus, commission, and/or equity. For positions with Remote-US locations, the actual salary range for the position may differ based on location but will be commensurate with job duties and relevant work experience. 

About Red Hat

Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver high-performing Linux, cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Spread across 40+ countries, our associates work flexibly across work environments, from in-office, to office-flex, to fully remote, depending on the requirements of their role. Red Hatters are encouraged to bring their best ideas, no matter their title or tenure. We're a leader in open source because of our open and inclusive environment. We hire creative, passionate people ready to contribute their ideas, help solve complex problems, and make an impact.

Benefits
●    Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
●    Flexible Spending Account - healthcare and dependent care
●    Health Savings Account - high deductible medical plan
●    Retirement 401(k) with employer match
●    Paid time off and holidays
●    Paid parental leave plans for all new parents
●    Leave benefits including disability, paid family medical leave, and paid military leav