Infrastructure Engineer (Storage)

lightningai; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Retirement matching

Unlimited PTO

Company offsites

Sabbatical after four years

Learning & development allowance

Wellness stipend

Work-from-home stipend

Meal benefits

Flexible schedules

Job summary

lightningai is seeking a Storage Infrastructure Engineer to own the data plane of its distributed storage stack. You will operate high-throughput, low-latency storage on bare-metal infrastructure, interfacing with data center teams on hardware bring-up and upgrades.

The role emphasizes automation, reliability, and scaling of production systems, with a focus on AI/ML workloads. A strong background in Linux, Python, and large-scale storage is required.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in infrastructure engineering or related field.
• Hands-on experience operating distributed storage systems at scale (VAST, Ceph).
• Strong Linux systems experience in production environments.
• Proficiency in Python or comparable scripting for automation.

Responsibilities

• Operate and scale distributed storage systems (VAST, Ceph).
• Troubleshoot storage and data-path issues across hardware, OS, and software layers.
• Build Python automation for provisioning, lifecycle management, and monitoring of storage clusters.
• Manage Linux-based production systems in bare-metal environments with data center collaboration.
• Support capacity planning, utilization tracking, and forecasting using monitoring/telemetry.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, network, and platform teams on high-performance storage designs.

Skills

Infrastructure engineering

Python scripting

Linux administration

Distributed storage

Tools

Ceph

VAST

Job description

Role overview

A platform company building developer tools and large-scale compute for AI/ML workloads is hiring a Storage Infrastructure Engineer to own the data plane of its distributed storage stack. The role sits at the intersection of software, hardware, and operations, focusing on high-throughput, low-latency data access for training, inference, and HPC workloads running on bare-metal infrastructure. It is a builder-focused position emphasizing automation, reliability, and scaling of production systems.

Responsibilities

• Operate and scale distributed storage systems, including VAST and S3-compatible object storage such as Ceph


• Troubleshoot complex storage and data-path issues spanning hardware, OS, and software layers


• Build Python-based automation for provisioning, lifecycle management, and monitoring of storage clusters


• Manage Linux-based production systems in bare-metal environments, partnering with data center teams on hardware bring-up, upgrades, and issue resolution


• Support capacity planning, utilization tracking, and forecasting using monitoring and telemetry


• Collaborate with infrastructure, network, and platform teams on design discussions, integration, and best practices for high-performance storage

Requirements

• 5+ years in infrastructure engineering, systems engineering, or a closely related field


• Hands-on experience operating distributed storage systems such as VAST, Ceph, or similar at scale


• Strong Linux systems experience in production environments


• Proficiency in Python or comparable scripting/programming languages for automation


• Experience with bare-metal infrastructure and ability to debug issues across storage, OS, hardware, and networking boundaries


• Familiarity with storage networking protocols (e.g., NFS) plus capacity planning, monitoring, and performance tuning

Nice to have

• Production experience with VAST storage systems


• Operating S3-compatible object storage at scale


• Data center operations experience with physical hardware


• Familiarity with AI/ML or HPC workloads and their storage requirements


• Background in high-performance or low-latency distributed systems


• Experience with RDMA, GPU Direct Storage, or supporting GPU-based workloads and large compute clusters

Benefits and work setup

The anticipated base salary range is $180,000–$220,000 USD, with a discretionary bonus and meaningful equity component. The role may be fully remote within the U.S. or hybrid out of major office hubs, with occasional team and company offsites; visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage


• Retirement matching


• Unlimited PTO plus company and floating holidays


• A two-week company-wide winter break


• Paid parental and family leave


• An annual learning and development allowance


• Wellness and work-from-home stipends


• A four-week paid sabbatical after four years of service


• Flexible schedules


• Complimentary in-office meals

Benefits vary by location, team, and role.