Senior Specialist Sales Engineer, Kubernetes

Hammerspace; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k plans

Flexible time off

Health plans

Job summary

Hammerspace in the United States seeks a Kubernetes-focused technical specialist to lead storage/data-path deals and POCs in Kubernetes environments.

You will enable field SEs, design end-to-end proofs of concept, and collaborate with platform teams including SRE and cloud-native architects to remove barriers and push deals forward.

Qualifications

• Be the technical owner on Kubernetes-shaped storage or data-platform deals.
• Able to run a POC that proves the data path in Kubernetes.
• Experience working with platform teams, not only storage teams.
• 5+ years in pre-sales, solutions engineering, or similar technical sales.
• Working knowledge of Linux, containers, and how a data platform attaches to Kubernetes.
• Clear written and verbal communication with platform engineers and customer architects.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical work when the deal is Kubernetes: operators, CSI, storage classes, and the Hammerspace data path inside the cluster.
• Enable account SEs to run first-pass Kubernetes discovery and a routine container-platform POC without a Field CTO.
• Design and run POCs that prove the data path in Kubernetes — attach, performance, failover, and how applications consume the namespace.
• Work with platform teams (SRE, cloud-native architects) to advance deals quickly.
• Surface Kubernetes-boundary gaps to Product the same week they appear in the field.

Skills

Kubernetes

Pre-sales experience

Containers

Communication

Data platform

Tools

OpenShift

EKS

GKE

AKS

CSI

Job description

Hammerspace is the high-performance data platform for AI anywhere. We unify unstructured data into

a single global namespace across sites, clouds, and existing storage, then orchestrate that data so it is

available where compute needs it — without a rip-and-replace migration.

The platform delivers parallel, standards-based access for AI, GPU clusters, and HPC. Data can stay

where it already lives and still show up, at speed, where training, inference, and simulation run.

This seat is the named technical specialist for Kubernetes-shaped deals. Field CTOs should not be the

default resource on operators, CSI, and “does this run on our cluster.”

You own the technical motion when the opportunity is orchestration, container platforms, and running

Hammerspace in a Kubernetes environment. You prove the data path in the cluster — not a slide about

cloud-native. You make account SEs good enough on those questions that a Field CTO is not required

on the call.

What you will do

• Own the technical work when the deal is Kubernetes: operators, CSI, storage classes, and the Hammerspace data path inside the cluster.
• Enable account SEs to run first-pass Kubernetes discovery and a routine container-platform POC without a Field CTO.
• Design and run POCs that prove the data path in Kubernetes — attach, performance, failover, and how applications actually consume the namespace.
• Work with platform teams, not only storage teams. Sit with platform engineering, SRE, and cloud-native architects.
• Surface real Kubernetes-boundary gaps to Product the same week they show up in the field: CSI, operator, upgrade, multi-cluster, and performance issues that block a deal.
• Flag stuck POCs, severity-level problems, and coverage holes to the Director the same day.
• Deliver technical presentations, workshops, and hands-on enablement that field SEs can reuse.
• Know when to finish the work yourself and when to pull a Field CTO, cloud, or the Director.

What good looks like in six months

• Kubernetes motions have a named specialist and a repeatable POC path.
• Field CTOs are not the default on routine container-platform technical work.
• Account SEs can do first-pass Kubernetes discovery without you.

Stuck POCs, severity-level issues, and coverage holes reach the Director the same day.

What you bring

Required

• You have been the technical owner on Kubernetes-shaped storage or data-platform deals.
• You can talk CSI, operators, storage classes, and the actual data path — and you can run a POC that proves it.
• You have worked with platform teams, not only storage teams.
• Five or more years in pre-sales, solutions engineering, or a comparable technical sales role in storage, data management, or cloud-native infrastructure.
• Working knowledge of Linux, containers, and how a data platform attaches to Kubernetes.
• Clear written and verbal communication with platform engineers, customer architects, and Hammerspace field teams.

Nice to have

• OpenShift, EKS, GKE, AKS, or on-prem Kubernetes at enterprise scale.
• You have taught other SEs this motion.
• Experience with GPU operator / device-plugin environments and AI pipelines running on
• Familiarity with CSI sidecars, snapshot / clone workflows, RWX file workloads, and object access from the cluster.
• Knowledge of current storage architectures (NAS, SAN, object, parallel file) and of multi-cluster or hybrid-cloud operations.

You do not need to match every bullet. If you have done this work under another title, apply. We hire for the work, not a pedigree.

What this role does not own

• Field CTO architecture.
• The cloud-native product story — that sits with Presales.
• Partner Kubernetes programs — that sits with Partner Enablement.
• New-logo hunting as a primary motion.
• A named geographic book. This is a specialty seat.

Compensation and benefits

The anticipated compensation range for this role is $250,000–$300,000 (OTE). Actual compensation will be determined by several factors including, but not limited to, level of professional/education experience, skills/abilities, internal equity, and budgetary considerations.

In addition, Hammerspace offers a broad range of health plans for medical, dental, vision, life and disability. We also offer 401k plans and flexible time off.

Hammerspace is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, gender, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, military status, or national origin or any other characteristic protected under federal, state, or applicable local law.

To the extent required by state or local hiring regulations, we will consider for employment any qualified applicant, including those with arrest and conviction records, in a manner consistent with the applicable regulation.