Senior Embedded Linux Software Engineer — OS & Device Platform at Intuitive
Sunnyvale, CA
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Jun 28, 2026
Sunnyvale, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role centers on owning the Linux OS and platform-layer software for a medical procedure planning laptop — a custom Yocto/OpenEmbedded-based system used in robotic bronchoscopy navigation. Day-to-day work spans Yocto layer and recipe maintenance, secure boot hardening, field software update mechanisms, hardware bring-up for new laptop platforms, and platform-level debugging. It suits a seasoned embedded Linux engineer with direct OS-layer product experience in a regulated environment.
Senior level · 6+ years · San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA · Bachelor's required · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 260 people in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 65–340
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $213,110 (middle half $173,650–$226,080).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
The JD states '6+ years of industry experience' with a Bachelor's degree, or '4+ years' with a Master's. The minimum overall experience (6 years with a Bachelor's) is used for the overall years minimum; the degree requirement reflects the lower-bar path (Bachelor's). The Master's path is an accepted alternative, not a separate hard gate.
The JD requires 'at least one system-level language (C or C++ preferred)' — C is listed as the primary skill with C++ as an alternative, reflecting that either satisfies the requirement.
D-Bus and systemd appear in the required qualifications section ('Familiarity with D-Bus IPC, systemd service management…'), so they are treated as hard gates despite the softer 'familiarity with' phrasing.
Jenkins is listed in the required section with '(or equivalent CI/CD toolchain)' — treated as a hard gate on CI/CD capability; common substitutes are listed as alternatives.
UEFI Secure Boot, GRUB2, and TPM 2.0 appear in both the required duties narrative and the Preferred Skills section. They are listed as preferred because the Preferred Skills section is the explicit qualification gate; the duties narrative describes responsibilities, not candidate screening criteria.
No compensation figures were provided in the posting despite a reference to 'target compensation ranges' — no comp fields could be populated.
Location is inferred as Intuitive's primary campus in Sunnyvale, CA; the posting does not explicitly state a city but Intuitive Surgical is headquartered there. The posting notes a preference against candidates residing in certain states, consistent with an on-site or hybrid role.
Read the full posting
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