Senior Embedded Linux OS EngineerVerified as a real position

Who we’re looking for

• Strong embedded Linux experience, including Buildroot, Yocto, or similar embedded operating system environments
• Deep understanding of Linux operating systems, system services, hardware bring-up, and platform reliability
• Experience with bootloaders, partition layouts, OTA update systems, and embedded device lifecycle management
• Comfort working across hardware and software boundaries, including reading hardware schematics and datasheets
• Experience with cross-compilation toolchains and low-level debugging tools such as serial consoles, GDB, strace, JTAG, oscilloscopes, or logic analysers
• Ability to read and write C/C++ for lower-level or driver-related work
• Strong Python skills for automation, tooling, and platform scripting
• Familiarity with security hardening practices for embedded operating systems
• Experience working with Home Assistant OS or similar embedded Linux platforms is a strong plus
• Hardware-native mindset — comfortable working directly with physical devices and embedded systems
• High autonomy and ownership — able to independently own complex platform areas end-to-end
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting mindset — able to methodically investigate unfamiliar systems and isolate problems using evidence rather than assumptions
• Comfortable learning unfamiliar systems quickly and moving across multiple technical layers including OS, hardware, drivers, automation, and platform tooling
• Community-minded and collaborative — comfortable contributing in public open-source environments with asynchronous communication and code review workflows
• Clear written communication skills and ability to work effectively in distributed remote teams

What you’ll do

• Maintain and improve Home Assistant OS support for Nabu Casa hardware platforms, contributing where appropriate within the wider Home Assistant OS ecosystem.
• Work closely with Home Assistant OS contributors and Open Home Foundation developers to improve platform support, resolve issues, and enable new hardware platforms.
• Support board bring-up activities for new hardware products, including Buildroot configuration, board support packages (BSPs), bootloader configuration, partition layouts, and system services.
• Optimise operating-system performance, hardware utilisation, stability, and reliability across supported devices.
• Maintain and improve the Buildroot-based build infrastructure, ensuring builds remain reproducible, maintainable, and efficient.
• Investigate and resolve platform-level issues including boot regressions, driver failures, hardware compatibility problems, update issues, kernel panics, and power-management defects.
• Collaborate closely with the Hardware Team during development and validation of new boards. The Hardware Team owns hardware design and production; you ensure reliable operating-system support and compatibility.
• Upstream patches as required to Linux, U-Boot, Buildroot, or other related open-source projects.
• Work with silicon vendors, hardware partners, and open-source maintainers when required to improve platform support and resolve lower-level issues.
• Contribute to operating-system security hardening and platform reliability improvements.
• Help maintain healthy CI pipelines for operating-system builds and platform validation.
• Document platform architecture, board support status, debugging procedures, known limitations, and key technical decisions.

About the position

Nabu Casa is the organisation behind Home Assistant , the world's largest free and open-source smart home platform used by over two million households. We were founded to ensure the project's sustainability, and in 2024, we partnered with the Open Home Foundation to protect and promote a wide range of open-source initiatives. Our guiding principles—privacy, choice, and sustainability—are embedded in everything we do, from our architecture to our community. We are a profitable company with no external investors. Our funding comes directly from users who subscribe to Home Assistant Cloud and purchase Home Assistant hardware, ensuring our only stakeholders are our employees and our users. We also support other open-source projects, including those focused on hardware, standards, and voice technology.

Benefits

• Nabu Casa is a fully remote organization that uses Remote to employ people from all over the world. You will be a normal salaried employee in your country.
• This is a full-time position for 40 hours per week. Because we are a fully remote company, there is no fixed schedule. For the purpose of team communication, we do try to ensure at least 3 hours of overlap in the workday. You will report to our Engineering Manager.
• Five weeks (twenty-five days) of paid time off.
• Fourteen days of paid sick leave if your country/laws treat them as unpaid.
• Six weeks of paid and six weeks of unpaid parental leave to be used in the first year after birth.
• A budget for your work hardware once you start. After three years, you may keep this equipment for personal use.
• An annual smart home budget to ensure you keep up-to-date with the latest smart homes offer.
• An annual education budget to help you grow and stay on top of your game.
• A yearly performance bonus based on company performance.
• A 50% contribution to your internet connection fee at your home workspace.
• One day every two weeks to work on your personal projects.
• If you are currently working on Home Assistant-related side projects, you can spend work time maintaining them.
• When first offering a position to a new member, Nabu Casa aims to provide a total compensation package that matches the 75th percentile for the new hire's role, seniority, and local market rates. In our primary operating countries, the approximate yearly compensation will be the following: - Czechia: 1,400,000 - 1,800,000 CZK - Greece: 50,000 - 62,000 EUR - Hungary: 21,000,000 - 27,000,000 HUF - Italy: 72,000 - 91,000 EUR - Portugal: 66,000 - 85,000 EUR - Poland: 348,000 - 426,000 PNL - Romania: 334,000 - 449,000 RON - Netherlands: 83,000 - 101,000 EUR - Spain: 68,000 - 87,000 EUR - UK: 76,000 - 97,000 GBP - Other countries: Compensation can be discussed during the first interview. These figures may be adjusted based on experience, qualifications, and work hours.