Staff Engineer - Performance

DDN; Pune District; On-site; INR 4,500,000 - 6,500,000; Full time

Job summary

DDN in Pune, India, seeks a Staff Engineer – Performance to optimize data path and I/O performance across distributed file systems. You will analyze bottlenecks, implement improvements, and collaborate with architects to enhance throughput and reduce latency at scale.

The role emphasizes hands-on contributions, performance tuning, and data-driven decisions to improve system efficiency and reliability. Strong C++ proficiency and deep knowledge of storage systems are required.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in system software development and complex problem resolution.
• Deep understanding of distributed file systems and scale-out storage architectures.
• Expert-level knowledge of data path and I/O path design and optimization.
• Strong proficiency in C++ with extensive experience in performance-critical code.
• Proven expertise in performance measurement techniques, including profiling, tracing, benchmarking, and custom tooling.
• Strong foundation in distributed systems principles, including scalability, concurrency, and fault tolerance.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the performance design of data path and I/O components in distributed file systems.
• Perform performance analysis, troubleshooting, and optimization of large-scale, high-performance file systems.
• Implement performance-aware improvements across CPU, memory, storage, and network layers.
• Optimize performance-critical file system code, primarily in C++.
• Apply best practices for performance measurement, profiling, benchmarking, and regression detection.
• Investigate and resolve complex system-level performance issues.
• Collaborate with architects and senior engineers to incorporate performance considerations into system design.
• Work with cross-functional teams to validate and meet performance goals across the stack.
• Participate in design reviews with a focus on performance implications.
• Share knowledge and support peers in adopting effective performance engineering practices.

Skills

Performance optimization

Distributed systems

Data path design

I/O optimization

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

C++

Job description

We are seeking a Staff Engineer – Performance with strong expertise in data path and I/O performance for large-scale distributed file systems. This role focuses on analyzing, optimizing, and improving performance across the storage stack, from low-level code paths to system-wide behavior at scale.

You will work closely with architects and cross-functional teams to investigate complex performance issues, implement optimizations, and ensure high throughput and low latency in distributed systems. This role emphasizes hands-on technical contributions, performance tuning, and data-driven decision-making to improve overall system efficiency and reliability.

Key Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the performance design of data path and I/O components in distributed file systems

• Perform performance analysis, troubleshooting, and optimization of large-scale, high-performance file systems

• Implement performance-aware improvements across CPU, memory, storage, and network layers

• Optimize performance-critical file system code, primarily in C++

• Apply best practices for performance measurement, profiling, benchmarking, and regression detection

• Investigate and resolve complex system-level performance issues

• Collaborate with architects and senior engineers to incorporate performance considerations into system design

• Work with cross-functional teams to validate and meet performance goals across the stack

• Participate in design reviews with a focus on performance implications

• Share knowledge and support peers in adopting effective performance engineering practices

Requirements:

• Accountable and highly motivated with solid people skills

• 10+ years’ experience system software development and complex problem resolution.

• Deep understanding of distributed file systems and scale-out storage architectures

• Expert-level knowledge of data path and I/O path design and optimization

• Strong proficiency in C++ with extensive experience in performance-critical code

• Proven expertise in performance measurement techniques, including profiling, tracing, benchmarking, and custom tooling

• Strong foundation in distributed systems principles, including scalability, concurrency, and fault tolerance

• Demonstrated experience optimizing file system or storage system code for performance at scale

• Experience with high-performance, high-scale-out file systems in production environments

What Success Looks Like

• Consistently delivers measurable improvements in throughput, latency, and scalability

• Identifies and mitigates performance bottlenecks early in the development lifecycle

• Produces reliable performance analysis that informs design and implementation decisions

• Contributes to stable, repeatable performance testing and regression detection practices

• Effectively collaborates with team members to meet performance goals across components

• Builds and applies strong performance engineering expertise to improve code and system quality