Embedded Build Systems Engineer - Yocto & CI/CD in Columbus
Career & Market Insight
This role sits at the intersection of embedded systems engineering and DevOps — a relatively rare and highly specialized niche. Yocto/OpenEmbedded expertise is in strong demand but short supply globally, making this a career-differentiating skill set.
Compensation context: No salary is listed. Embedded Linux / build systems engineers with Yocto expertise typically earn $80K–$130K USD annually in the US market. For Mexico-based roles at global companies, expect localized rates, though Orion's global scope may offer above-average local compensation. Negotiate carefully.
Skills you'll develop:
- Deep Yocto/OpenEmbedded expertise — a specialized, marketable skill
- CI/CD pipeline design with Jenkins and GitHub Actions
- Embedded Linux security (binary hardening, ELF properties)
- Cross-platform, large-scale codebase management
Career signals: Working on Sonos' internal platform means your code affects hundreds of engineers daily — high visibility and impact. This is a green flag for career growth in platform/infrastructure engineering. Orion is a mature global services firm, suggesting stable employment and exposure to multiple high-profile clients.
Potential red flags: The role is contractor/consulting in nature (Orion staffing for Sonos), which may limit direct Sonos career advancement. Advanced English requirement signals significant cross-team collaboration with US-based counterparts. Fast-moving environment language suggests high-velocity sprints, so work-life balance should be clarified at interview stage.
Orion Innovation is a premier, award-winning, global business and technology services firm. Orion delivers game-changing business transformation and product development rooted in digital strategy, experience design, and engineering, with a unique combination of agility, scale, and maturity. We work with a wide range of clients across many industries including financial services, professional services, telecommunications and media, consumer products, automotive, industrial automation, professional sports and entertainment, life sciences, ecommerce, and education.
Location: Remote position based in Mexico
English level: Advanced
As an engineer working on Sonos' embedded software build system, you will work in a fast-moving environment to evolve and improve a system that is central to how Sonos creates its products. The build system is used by hundreds of engineers on a daily basis, and its ease of use, health, and performance have a huge impact on productivity and the ability to meet product vision and goals.
We view the build system as not just a set of tools, but as much a part of the products as any feature or function. It's an area in which innovation and planning for the future matter as much as for any product feature roadmap. You will find yourself working with some of the brightest minds in the business across multiple disciplines of software, hardware, and release engineering.
What You'll Do
- Design, build, analyze, enhance, and refactor elements of the build system used to develop Sonos products
- Support the regular third-party library upgrade cycle tied to Yocto LTS releases
- Patch third-party libraries as needed as part of Yocto maintenance releases
What You'll Need
Basic Qualifications
- Strong proficiency with Yocto/OpenEmbedded development, including recipe writing and maintenance, layer management, and major/minor version upgrades
- Strong proficiency with cross-compilation and toolchain concepts
- Familiarity with embedded Linux platforms across multiple ARM SoCs
- Comfortable working in a Git/PR/CI workflow on a large, multi-platform codebase
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with Linux kernel and out-of-tree kernel module build maintenance
- Experience with setup and maintenance of Jenkins and GitHub infrastructure for CI/CD capabilities
- Familiarity with Python scripting for build automation
- Basic understanding of binary hardening and ELF security properties
Orion is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, citizenship status, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is this DevOps role fully remote or is office attendance required?
What level of English proficiency is required for this role?
Is Yocto/OpenEmbedded experience mandatory or preferred?
What is the salary range for this position?
Will I be working directly for Sonos or for Orion Innovation?
