Senior Designated Support Engineer

DataDirect Networks, Inc.; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 50,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

DataDirect Networks, Inc. is seeking a Sr Designated Support Engineer to provide exceptional support for their advanced data storage technologies. This remote role focuses on troubleshooting, customer satisfaction, and collaboration with engineering teams, requiring extensive technical knowledge and strong communication skills.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in a technical role with Lustre or similar filesystems.
• Deep technical knowledge in storage and networking.
• Strong communication skills in English.

Responsibilities

• Troubleshoot and resolve customer issues with Lustre file systems.
• Work with customers to ensure satisfaction and provide training.
• Collaborate with engineering to improve product quality.

Skills

Problem Solving

Customer Interfacing

Analytical Thinking

Communication

Tools

Lustre

Linux

Networking

Job description

Overview

This is an incredible opportunity to be part of a company that has been at the forefront of AI and high-performance data storage innovation for over two decades. DataDirect Networks (DDN) is a global market leader renowned for powering many of the world's most demanding AI data centers, in industries ranging from life sciences and healthcare to financial services, autonomous cars, government, academia, research, and manufacturing.

"DDN's A3I solutions are transforming the landscape of AI infrastructure." – IDC

“The real differentiator is DDN. I never hesitate to recommend DDN. DDN is the de facto name for AI Storage in high performance environments” - Marc Hamilton, VP, Solutions Architecture & Engineering | NVIDIA

DDN is the global leader in AI and multi-cloud data management at scale. Our cutting-edge data intelligence platform is designed to accelerate AI workloads, enabling organizations to extract maximum value from their data. With a proven track record of performance, reliability, and scalability, DDN empowers businesses to tackle the most challenging AI and data-intensive workloads with confidence.

Our success is driven by our unwavering commitment to innovation, customer-centricity, and a team of passionate professionals who bring their expertise and dedication to every project. This is a chance to make a significant impact at a company that is shaping the future of AI and data management.

Our commitment to innovation, customer success, and market leadership makes this an exciting and rewarding role for a driven professional looking to make a lasting impact in the world of AI and data storage.

Job Description

As a Sr Designated Support Engineer at DDN Storage, you will be responsible for delivering a 'pristine experience on DDN’s technologies' by utilizing your technical expertise and understanding of the customer ecosystem to solve demanding business needs. We are seeking highly skilled, well-rounded technical resources to support our most demanding customers.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The essential duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Ability to work flexible weekly shifts, which may include weekends.
• Focus on DDN’s largest and most critical customers.
• Work directly with customer administrative staff to resolve issues.
• Engage quickly with customers to troubleshoot and resolve problems.
• Resolve Lustre file system issues on large, scalable customer systems to ensure satisfaction.
• Create test plans and procedures for customer upgrades and troubleshooting.
• Collaborate with engineering to improve product quality using customer feedback and use cases.
• Review product documentation for internal and external needs.
• Work with the DDN Education team to provide training as needed.
• Assist in developing and maintaining internal tools.
• Demonstrate a thorough technical understanding of clients’ needs.
• Communicate complex technical topics clearly to customers with varied knowledge levels.
• Develop positive and trustworthy relationships with customers.
• Manage multiple tasks and priorities to achieve objectives.
• This is a remote position that may require some travel and on-site customer visits.
• Participate in a one-week on-call team rotation for customer support.

This role requires extensive knowledge of parallel file system operations, disk-based storage systems, Linux OS, networking, and troubleshooting techniques. Strong communication skills are essential, including connecting with customers via phone, virtual meetings, and written correspondence.

Minimum Requirements:

• 7+ years of experience in a similar technical role.
• Experience supporting post-sales efforts.
• Deep technical knowledge and problem analysis skills.
• Excellent customer interfacing skills.
• Solution-oriented mindset with analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Proven team player with strong skills.
• Good verbal and written English communication skills; additional languages are a plus.

Essential Technical Requirements

• 7+ years working with Lustre or similar parallel filesystems—administration, support, or implementation.
• Strong Linux architecture and fundamentals knowledge.
• Understanding of system infrastructure including storage, Linux OS, networking, and parallel file systems.
• Knowledge of data storage concepts: RAID, Erasure Coding, block storage, etc.
• Understanding of networking concepts: Infiniband, Ethernet, IP, TCP, routing.

Preferred Technical Requirements:

• Experience with other parallel filesystems like SpectrumScale or StorNext.
• Experience developing/debugging shell, Python, Bash, or Perl scripts.
• Networking experience with Infiniband and Ethernet.
• Experience with NAS protocols: NFS, CIFS, SMB, S3, FTP, SFTP.
• Knowledge of authentication protocols: Active Directory, LDAP.
• Extensive troubleshooting experience with Infiniband and Ethernet networks.
• Experience with file transfer protocols and NAS protocols.
• Knowledge of authentication protocols like LDAP, OAuth2/OIDC, Kerberos, SAML.
• Experience with network diagnostic tools like LLDP, tcpdump, Wireshark.

DDN

DDN values these characteristics in employees:

Self-Starter: Takes initiative and solves problems independently.

Success/Achievement Orientation: Delivers quality results, sets challenging goals, and is accountable.

Problem Solving: Recognizes issues and addresses root causes systematically.

Innovative: Builds and improves processes, challenges the status quo, and generates new ideas.

Equal Opportunity Employer: DataDirect Networks, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will be considered regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other protected characteristics.

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