John L. Jolly

Senior Systems Software Engineer jjolly@jjolly.dev | (801) 376-2998
LinkedIn | GitHub

Summary

• Senior Systems Software Engineer with 25+ years of experience in Linux kernel development, systems programming, and High-Performance Computing (HPC).
• Deep expertise in low-level development, including kernel/driver maintenance, build systems, and deploying software for bare-metal cloud infrastructure.
• Proven history of upstream-first contributions and collaborative development with open-source communities (Linux Kernel, RDMA, Slurm).
• AI/ML Infrastructure: Expanding expertise in Ollama, AI-accelerated development (Claude Code), and modern systems languages (Rust).

Skills

• Languages: C (Expert), Python, Rust, C++, Bash, Java, Haskell
• Core Expertise: Linux Kernel Development, Kernel Core Dump Analysis (Intel x86_64, ARM64, S390), Driver Development, Build Systems (Make, Yocto, Bazel), CI/CD, RPM Packaging
• Technologies: Linux (SUSE, Debian, RHEL), Kubernetes, Docker, HPC (Slurm, Warewulf), RDMA (Infiniband), Ansible, Argo CD, Doppler, Teleport

Professional Experience

Senior Software Engineer | CoreWeave

2024 – 2026 | Remote * Developed a container-based kernel build system supporting multiple configurations, automated patching, and tool builds with Debian-based packaging. * Migrated legacy Packer-based GitLab CI/CD systems to containerized GitHub workflows for K8s boot images with Teleport access control. * Implemented containerized GitHub workflows for building NVIDIA and OFED DKMS drivers. * Modernized bare-metal node infrastructure by updating Linux boot images to the Ubuntu Noble kernel. * Orchestrated build pipelines using Argo CI/CD, managing S3 artifact storage and Doppler secret management. * Developed automation for static boot image configuration using Ansible, Python, and Claude Code.

Software Engineer | Linux System Software | SUSE

2008 – 2019 | Provo, UT * Linux Kernel development on IBM SystemZ; developed storage, network, and cryptographic drivers. * Analyzed Linux kernel core dumps for root cause analysis and code fixes. * Maintained RDMA infrastructure and instituted upstream-first processes for the RDMA community. * Managed HPC Module packages including Slurm and Warewulf.

Software Engineer | Novell

1993 – 2008 | Provo, UT * Managed packaging and installation for Novell Identity Manager using RPM and SUSE OBS. * Developed Windows NTLM Authentication for Novell Single Sign-on. * Ported modular authentication drivers from NetWare, AIX, and HPUX to Linux.

Teaching & Research

• Adjunct Instructor, Utah Valley University (2003 – Present)
  • Developed and taught the Rust Programming Language course.
• Research Assistant, University of Utah (2019 – 2024)
  • Focused on compiler optimization for sparse tensor data layouts and CUDA code generation.

Education

• M.S. Computer Science, University of Utah (2024)
• B.S. Computer Science, Utah Valley University (2003) – Magna Cum Laude