Job Description

Job Title: Principal Engineer in Ottawa

We are seeking an experienced Principal Embedded Systems Infrastructure Engineer to spearhead the evolution of a networking OS build and integration infrastructure that supports our embedded networking platforms. This role requires a profound understanding of Linux and CI/CD, combined with a strong systems mindset, to maintain stable, reproducible builds, and act as a first responder to any issues.
Responsibilities

• Operate, monitor, and enhance the OS build infrastructure, including CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and build tooling.
• Act as the first responder for build breaks by detecting, triaging, and resolving issues swiftly to prevent developer downtime.
• Define and maintain branching strategies, backport critical patches, and manage long-term support (LTS) builds.
• Ensure predictable, reproducible builds through automation, coverage, and reliability improvements.
• Collaborate with the OS open-source community by contributing patches, performing reviews, resolving issues, and maintaining alignment with upstream policies.
• Partner with internal engineering teams to ensure builds meet functional, security, and compliance requirements.
• Simplify, document, and automate workflows into clear, repeatable processes to improve consistency and knowledge sharing.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring, driving best practices in build, integration, and release management.

Essential Skills

• Proven success in maintaining and scaling build and tooling infrastructure in production environments.
• Strong expertise in Linux build systems and scripting, including Bash and Python.
• Proficiency with build tools such as Make and CMake, as well as cross-compilation environments.
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD platforms such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or GitLab CI.
• Deep understanding of containerization and reproducibility, including Docker, image management, and dependency control.
• Advanced Git skills, including branching, rebasing, cherry-picking, merging, tagging, and version management.
• Proven ability to triage and resolve build failures quickly and under pressure.
• Experience with open-source contribution workflows, including pull requests, reviews, and upstream synchronization.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to document complex technical processes clearly.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience with embedded Linux distributions.
• Experience in networking software, real-time embedded systems, or platform integration.
• Understanding of software security, cryptographic keys, and secure boot concepts.
• Familiarity with containers, image management, and build reproducibility at scale.

Work Environment
Onsite role
Pay and Benefits
The pay range for this position is $65.00 - $85.00/hr.
Workplace Type
This is a fully onsite position in Nepean,ON.
A propos d'Actalent:
Actalent est un chef de file mondial des services d'ingenierie et de sciences et des solutions de talents. Nous aidons les entreprises visionnaires a faire progresser leurs initiatives en matiere d'ingenierie et de science en leur donnant acces a des experts specialises qui favorisent la mise a l'echelle, l'innovation et la mise en marche rapide. Avec un reseau de pres de 30 000 consultants et plus de 4 500 clients aux Etats-Unis, au Canada, en Asie et en Europe, Actalent est au service d'un grand nombre d'entreprises du classement Fortune 500.
Actalent est un employeur souscrivant au principe de l'egalite des chances et accepte toutes les candidatures sans tenir compte de la race, du sexe, de l'age, de la couleur, de la religion, des origines nationales, du statut d'ancien combattant, d'un handicap, de l'orientation sexuelle, de l'identite sexuelle, des renseignements genetiques ou de toute autre caracteristique protegee par la loi.
Si vous souhaitez faire une demande d'accommodement raisonnable, tel que la modification ou l'ajustement du processus de demande d'emploi ou d'entrevue a cause d'un handicap, veuillez envoyer un courriel a pour connaitre d'autres options d'accommodement.
About Actalent
Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 30,000 consultants and more than 4,500 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both client and talent service.
The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.
If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email for other accommodation options.

Skills Required