Principal Software Engineer

NetApp; Morrisville (NC); Hybrid; USD 228,000 - 338,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Life Insurance

Retirement or Pension Plans

Paid Time Off (PTO)

various Leave options

Performance-Based Incentives

employee stock purchase plan

restricted stocks (RSU’s)

Job summary

NetApp is seeking a Principal Engineer to define the Kubernetes story for its flagship storage platforms. You will own architectural decisions, drive adoption of cloud-native storage, and collaborate with upstream communities, product management, and customers to deliver scalable solutions for containerized environments.

You will lead cross-functional teams, contribute high-quality code, and influence strategy while delivering production-grade software and test automation.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience.
• BS in CS or equivalent; MS preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural design and guide the team through critical technical decisions.
• Provide technical leadership across associated teams and programs.
• Partner with product management on roadmap planning and prioritization.
• Engage directly with customers on escalations, requirements, and solution validation.
• Drive continuous improvement across development, quality, and delivery.
• Evangelize NetApp’s Kubernetes solution in open-source and industry settings.
• Support adoption of proposed solutions through technical influence, documentation, and customer engagement.

Skills

12+ yrs exp

Go

Python

Kubernetes

Kubernetes APIs

Open-source

Distributed systems

CSI

AWS

GCP

Azure

NetApp storage

Agile/Scrum

Communication

Architecture

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent

Master's degree in engineering/software

Tools

NetApp storage platforms

Job description

Own Every Moment at NetApp

At NetApp, your ideas power innovation. We lead in intelligent data infrastructure—delivering unified storage, integrated data services, and solutions that help organizations unlock the full potential of their data, from AI to multicloud.

Ready to innovate and contribute to our path to $10B? Here, you'll collaborate with passionate teams, tackle real-world challenges, and see your impact in how customers transform and grow. If you're ready to bring curiosity, creativity, and drive to every moment, NetApp is where your journey begins. Join teams that innovate to elevate, drive results, and excel together across every function.

Job Summary

Join the NetApp Trident team and help define the Kubernetes story for one of the industry’s most established storage platforms. You will be part of the Trident program—the team behind the first open-source, out-of-tree dynamic storage provisioner for Kubernetes—and will shape the roadmap for persistent storage on Kubernetes. In this role, you will own key architectural decisions, drive adoption of NetApp’s cloud-native storage solutions, and represent the team in open-source and customer-facing forums. You will work closely with upstream communities, product management, and customers to deliver practical, scalable solutions for persistent storage in containerized environments. Our team builds innovative solutions that help customers manage persistent storage for Kubernetes and other container platforms. We contribute code and technical leadership upstream, and we work across storage, distributed systems, and cloud-native ecosystems to solve real customer problems. We are looking for someone who is results-driven, collaborative, curious, and creative—someone who takes ownership, delivers high-quality work independently, and brings broad experience across embedded systems, operating systems, storage, and distributed systems.

Job Requirements

As a Principal Engineer, you will:

• Lead architectural design and guide the team through critical technical decisions
• Provide technical leadership across associated teams and programs
• Partner with product management on roadmap planning and prioritization
• Engage directly with customers on escalations, requirements, and solution validation
• Drive continuous improvement across development, quality, and delivery
• Evangelize NetApp’s Kubernetes solution in open-source and industry settings
• Support adoption of proposed solutions through technical influence, documentation, and customer engagement

Essential Functions

• Participate in technical discussions within the team and across business units on assigned projects
• Provide guidance on development and testing activities involving complex interdependencies
• Contribute to team, program, and company goals through hands-on engineering and technical leadership
• Design, implement, and deliver production-quality code
• Build and improve test automation
• Perform debugging, troubleshooting, and performance analysis
• Lead proof-of-concept work and R&D initiatives
• Enforce software design and development best practices through design and code reviews
• Learn and apply new technologies quickly
• Apply creative, practical approaches to solve complex technical problems

Qualifications

Required

• 12+ years of relevant software engineering experience
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience
• Strong coding skills in Go and Python
• Deep understanding of Kubernetes architecture, APIs, and ecosystem
• Solid foundation in computer architecture, data structures, algorithms, and software engineering practices
• Experience with hyperscaler platforms: AWS, GCP, and/or Azure
• Experience with NetApp storage platforms and/or cloud-native storage solutions
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Working knowledge of Agile/Scrum practices

Preferred

• Experience contributing to open-source projects
• Background in object-oriented design and distributed systems
• Experience with CSI (Container Storage Interface) and Kubernetes storage workflows
• Track record of technical leadership in cross-functional engineering teams

Education

Bachelor's degree in technical area of study: engineering disciplines

Master's degree in technical field such as engineering, software development, preferred with less additional experience stated above

The target salary range for this position is $227,800-338,000. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package.

• Health Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Retirement or Pension Plans
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• various Leave options
• Performance-Based Incentives
• employee stock purchase plan
• restricted stocks (RSU’s)

Benefits may vary by country and region, and further details will be provided as part of the recruitment process.

At NetApp, we embrace a hybrid working environment designed to strengthen connection, collaboration, and culture for all employees. This means that most roles will have some level of in-office and/or in-person expectations, which will be shared during the recruitment process.

Equal Opportunity Employer

NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.

Why You’ll Thrive at NetApp

At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.

NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.

Our culture

We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.

If you’re ready to innovate, rise to the challenge, and own every moment - make your next move your best one.

AI Disclosure

For select roles, some stages of our hiring process may use artificial intelligence tools to help evaluate applications and candidate selection. These tools support—rather than replace—human decision-making.