Senior Lustre Engineer — Kernel & Performance Architect

DDN; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

DDN is seeking an experienced Lustre software engineer to contribute to Lustre architecture and lead implementation of new features across core subsystems including MDS/OSS, LDLM, DNE, and DoM.

You will write high-performance, production-grade code across the Lustre kernel module, user-space utilities, and libraries, owning the full development lifecycle from design through testing and upstream patch submission.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of Lustre software development experience in production or open-source environments.
• Strong C programming and Linux kernel development background.
• Proven track record of upstreaming Lustre features into major releases.
• Deep understanding of Lustre internals (MDS/OSS, LDLM, journaling, DNE, DoM, FLD, layout, quota, security).
• Ability to write clear technical documentation and design reviews.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to Lustre architecture and lead implementation of new features across core subsystems including MDS/OSS, LDLM, DNE, DoM, FLD, layout, snapshot, quota, security, and recovery
• Write high-performance, production-grade code across the Lustre kernel module, user-space utilities, and supporting libraries
• Own the full development lifecycle for major features, from design and coding through testing, performance tuning, and upstream patch submission
• Improve scalability for multi-petabyte Lustre environments, including metadata performance, I/O path optimization, and integration with modern interconnects and storage fabrics
• Modernize Lustre internals through kernel API updates, locking improvements, RDMA enhancements, and cloud/container-oriented capabilities
• Prototype and evaluate emerging technologies such as NVMe-oF, CXL, and other next-generation storage approaches for potential Lustre integration
• Strengthen regression, stress, and performance validation using tools such as IOR, mdtest, fio, and custom Lustre test tooling
• Perform deep code-level performance analysis using Lustre tracing tools, perf, lockstat, and kernel profilers
• Work closely with Principal Engineers, hardware teams, and application owners to translate real workload needs into practical Lustre improvements
• Mentor other developers and contribute design docs, technical guides, and engineering reviews

Skills

Lustre development

Kernel programming

C programming

Distributed systems

Performance optimization

Python/Bash

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering or related field

Tools

lctl

llstat

strace

perf

kernel tracers

Job description

DDN is seeking an experienced Lustre software engineer to contribute to Lustre architecture and lead implementation of new features across core subsystems including MDS/OSS, LDLM, DNE, and DoM.

You will write high-performance, production-grade code across the Lustre kernel module, user-space utilities, and libraries, owning the full development lifecycle from design through testing and upstream patch submission.