Advisory Sales Engineer - Nvidia

Ddn

Santa Clara (CA)

Hybrid

USD 120,000 - 180,000

Full time

7 days ago

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Job summary

DDN in Santa Clara seeks a Sales Engineer to architect high-performance storage solutions powering AI, finance, and research workloads. You will translate complex customer requirements into scalable architectures and act as a trusted technical advisor throughout the sales cycle.

Responsibilities include designing storage for AI/ML training, HPC, and data analytics; creating BOMs and technical proposals for RFPs; conducting live demos and benchmarks; and integrating with GPU clusters, Kubernetes,

Qualifications

Bachelor's in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
Experience with storage and data architectures; design of reliable, scalable systems.
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to engineers and executives.

Responsibilities

Engage with customers to understand data challenges in high-frequency trading, genomics, AI model training, or autonomous systems.
Translate requirements into scalable storage solutions and architectures.
Conduct live demos, POCs, and performance benchmarks; create BOMs and technical proposals for complex RFQs.

Skills

Storage architectures

Data protocols

Networking

Parallel storage tech

AI workloads

Technical communication

Education

Bachelor's in CS/Engineering or related field

Tools

GPU clusters

Kubernetes

Cloud platforms

AI frameworks

Job description

About DDN

DDN powers the world's most demanding data workloads—from AI research to drug discovery, autonomous vehicles to financial modeling. For over two decades, our massively parallel storage solutions have enabled breakthrough innovations across industries. Join us in building the infrastructure that makes the impossible possible.

The Role

As a Sales Engineer, you'll architect high-performance storage solutions that enable customers to achieve their boldest ambitions. Work across finance, pharmaceuticals, education, and physical AI—designing systems that power real-time trading, accelerate drug discovery, enable groundbreaking research, and fuel autonomous systems.

You’ll translate complex customer requirements into elegant technical solutions, demonstrate capabilities through POCs and benchmarks, and serve as a trusted advisor throughout the sales cycle.

What You’ll Do

Customer Engagement

Partner with customers to understand their critical data challenges—high-frequency trading, genomics processing, AI model training, or autonomous vehicle sensor fusion

Translate technical requirements into elegant, scalable storage solutions that exceed expectations

Act as trusted technical advisor throughout the sales cycle

Solution Design

Architect storage for AI/ML training, HPC simulations, data analytics, and GPU-accelerated workloads

Design for reliability, resilience, security, and scale—balancing performance with data protection

Create BOMs, system architectures, and technical proposals for complex RFPs

Conduct live demos, POCs, and performance benchmarking

Integrate with GPU clusters, Kubernetes, cloud platforms, and AI frameworks

Innovation & Growth

Stay current on AI infrastructure and storage technology trends

Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams using field insights

Mentor team members and contribute to technical thought leadership

Shape product direction based on customer needs

What You Bring

Technical Foundation (All Levels)

Strong understanding of storage and data architectures: SAN, NAS, object storage, parallel file systems

Knowledge of architectural patterns for reliability, resilience, security, and scale

Understanding of storage and data protocols: S3, POSIX, NFS, SMB

Familiarity with network protocols: TCP/IP, InfiniBand, RDMA

Curiosity about massively parallel technologies (Lustre, GPFS, Exascaler)

Aptitude for AI workloads and how storage enables AI innovation

Ability to communicate technical concepts to both engineers and executives

Entry Level (0-3 years)

Bachelor's in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)

Exposure to storage/systems through coursework, internships, or projects

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

Customer-facing communication skills

Experienced (3+ years)

3-8+ years in pre-sales, solutions architecture, or technical consulting

Proven track record designing storage/infrastructure solutions

Hands-on experience with enterprise storage systems

Experience with AI/ML infrastructure, HPC, or high-performance workloads (preferred)

Success managing complex technical sales cycles

What Sets You Apart

Genuine curiosity about AI and its impact across industries

Ownership mindset—you solve problems until they're solved

Ability to translate technical complexity into business value

Thrive in fast-evolving technology environments

Collaborative team player with integrity and empathy

Diverse Backgrounds Welcome:

Whether you’re coming from enterprise storage vendors (Weka, VAST, NetApp, Pure), research computing (university HPC, national labs), or infrastructure roles (cloud architects, platform engineers), your experience translates to this role. Technical depth + customer focus matter more than your starting point.

Why DDN

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