Principal Software Engineer - Developer Tools, In-Vehicle Operating System

Position Overview

The Principal Software Engineer - Developer Tools, Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System role is a key position within Red Hat’s Automotive Program. You will be instrumental in developing and implementing next-generation Developer Tools that empower engineers to create and deploy software on the Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System and related platforms. In this role, you will act as a technical authority, driving the creation and refinement of tools—including IDE extensions—to accelerate our partners’ ability to develop for Red Hat’s automotive platform. Red Hat embraces change and innovation, encouraging the thoughtful use of AI to simplify workflows and boost efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development of new features within our development environment offerings to streamline remote development on the Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System platform.
• Take ownership of major tool features from conception to high-quality, production-ready release, ensuring functional requirements and performance goals are met.
• Implement tight integration between developer tools and core RHIVOS components.
• Engage with and contribute to relevant open-source communities (tooling, containers, and automotive-related projects) to align our productized tools with community best practices.
• Establish and champion engineering best practices, conduct thorough code reviews, and provide expert mentorship to engineers across the global development team.
• Collaborate with key automotive partners and internal field teams to understand complex user requirements and translate them into high-impact tool functionality.
• Ensure high standards of quality by implementing robust unit, integration, and end-to-end tests for all delivered tooling components.
• Contribute to UI design efforts for tooling interfaces as needed.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional experience in software engineering with a significant focus on developer tooling, IDEs, or platform enablement.
• Expertise in at least one object-oriented language (e.g., Go, Python) and advanced proficiency in technologies such as TypeScript/JavaScript and Node.js.
• Proven experience designing and developing VS Code extensions, plugins, or similar IDE integration components.
• Deep practical understanding of the Linux ecosystem, containerization (Kubernetes, OpenShift, Podman/Docker), and experience with cloud-native or edge computing platforms.
• Experience with UI design to support front-end tooling interfaces.
• Strong technical leadership with a demonstrated ability to drive complex cross-team initiatives and mentor other developers.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and collaboration skills for effective engagement with engineering teams, product management, and external partners.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with embedded systems, automotive development tools, or in-vehicle software deployment and testing.
• A solid understanding of networking, virtualization, and distributed systems implementation.
• Recognized contributions to major open-source projects or developer tool communities.
• Experience with UI development using React and/or PatternFly.

Benefits & Perks

• Compensation: Salary is determined based on your qualifications, job location, experience, applicable skills, and market considerations. (Salary range details were not provided.)
• Pay Transparency: Red Hat ensures compensation reflects internal pay equity along with external market value and a comprehensive benefits package.