Staff Software Engineer, AiDP

DataDirect Networks; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation Plans

Paid Holidays

Bonus Programs

Tuition Reimbursement

Employee Referral Program

Medical, Dental and Vision Benefits

Paid Leave Programs

Anniversary and Recognition Awards

Job summary

DataDirect Networks seeks a Staff Software Engineer to serve as the technical lead for the Data Ocean initiative within the DDN AI Data Platform. You will define the technical vision, architecture, and execution strategy for next-generation data management capabilities, including caching, global namespaces, data tiering, and data mobility across hybrid storage environments.

This hands-on leadership role requires designing and delivering high‑performance C/C++ code, leading distributed storage

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 10+ years of experience developing enterprise storage systems or distributed systems.
• Expert-level C/C++ programming and production-quality code.
• Experience leading architecture across distributed engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision and long-term roadmap for the Data Ocean platform.
• Design, develop, debug, and optimize production-grade C/C++ code for storage services.
• Implement scalable data movement, metadata management, intelligent caching, and global namespace services.
• Architect high-performance data paths for low latency, high throughput, scalability, and reliability.
• Lead architecture reviews and mentor engineering teams.
• Collaborate with Product Management to align strategy and execution.
• Drive CI/CD and automated testing practices.

Skills

C/C++ programming

Distributed systems

Mentoring/leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering

Tools

Object storage

Distributed file systems

Job description

We are on our way to being the first company to power 1 MILLION GPUs and want world-class talent to join our amazing team!

The world is moving faster than ever, and yet, it will never move this slowly again. We are at the forefront of an incredible technological revolution but, at its core, it is fueled by incredible people. People like you.

1,000 Global Employees

11kHappy Customers

16International Offices

We’re Looking for the Best and Brightest

We are the world’s leading data intelligence platform that reliably accelerates massive datasets for actionable real-time insights. Join our team to help the best and brightest minds tackle the world’s biggest challenges in business, science, medicine, academia and government.

Do What Can’t be Done

For the past 20 years, our team has kept us at the forefront of storage technology and has provided the foundation for enabling researchers to push the limits of “what can be done.”
These innovations take research and discovery to the next level, enabling them to discover cures to disease, observe global warming patterns, model innovative automotive and aerospace designs, discover new sources of energy, make communities safer, and accelerate business results across a wide variety of industries.

DDN Helps Build Your Future, Too

At DDN, we understand our customers’ diverse needs. Whether you’re a data scientist, IT professional, executive, or researcher, our solutions empower you with cutting‑edge technology and unparalleled support.

Highly Competitive Vacation Plans

Paid Holidays

Bonus Programs

Tuition Reimbursement

Employee Referral Program

Excellent Medical, Dental and Vision Benefits

Paid Leave Programs

Anniversary and Recognition Awards

Staff Software Engineer, AiDP

Location

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

Hybrid

• $200K – $250K

DDN is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to serve as the Technical Lead for the Data Ocean initiative within the DDN AI Data Platform.

In this role, you will define the technical vision, architecture, and execution strategy for next-generation data management capabilities, including intelligent caching, global namespaces, data tiering, and data mobility across hybrid storage environments. You will work closely with Engineering, Product Management, and Architecture to build scalable, high-performance storage solutions that integrate object storage, file systems, and block storage for AI, HPC, and enterprise workloads.

This is a hands‑on technical leadership position for an experienced distributed systems engineer who enjoys solving complex storage challenges and mentoring engineering teams while driving architectural decisions.

Technical Leadership

Own the technical vision, architecture, and long‑term roadmap for the Data Ocean platform while leading the implementation of core platform capabilities.

Designing, developing, debugging, and optimizing production‑quality C/C++ code for performance‑critical distributed storage services.

Design and implement scalable solutions for data movement, metadata management, intelligent caching, global namespace services, and data mobility.

Architect and build high‑performance data path and control plane services that deliver low latency, high throughput, scalability, and reliability.

Define architectures that seamlessly integrate object, file, and block storage across on‑premises and hybrid cloud environments.

Solve complex distributed systems challenges involving consistency, replication, fault tolerance, concurrency, metadata management, and large‑scale coordination.

Lead architecture reviews and technical design discussions while driving engineering decisions that balance performance, scalability, maintainability, and operational simplicity.

Lead by example through hands‑on coding, code reviews, debugging, root‑cause analysis, performance tuning, and technical mentoring.

Partner closely with Product Management and Engineering teams to translate product requirements into high‑quality, production‑ready software.

Storage Platform Development

Lead the design and implementation of next‑generation storage platform capabilities, including:

File system namespace caching

Global namespace services

Policy‑driven data tiering across object, file, and block storage

Data mobility, replication, and lifecycle management

Distributed metadata and control plane services

Build highly scalable distributed storage software with enterprise‑grade security, observability, availability, and operational excellence.

Cross‑Functional Leadership

Serve as the primary technical lead across Engineering, Product Management, and Architecture.

Collaborate with Product Management to define technical strategy, roadmap priorities, and implementation plans.

Drive technical execution and alignment across globally distributed engineering teams.

Mentor engineers through design reviews, architecture guidance, code reviews, and technical coaching.

Clearly communicate technical direction and architectural decisions to engineering and executive stakeholders.

Partner with infrastructure, cloud, platform, and DevOps teams to ensure seamless deployment and integration.

Establish engineering best practices for systems‑level software development using C/C++.

Maintain high standards for software architecture, code quality, performance, scalability, and maintainability.

Drive performance analysis, profiling, and optimization across distributed storage components.

Champion automated testing, including unit, integration, system, scalability, and performance testing.

Support modern CI/CD practices and reliable software delivery.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.

10+ years of experience developing enterprise storage systems or distributed systems software.

Proven experience as a Principal Engineer, Senior Staff Engineer, or Technical Lead building complex distributed software platforms.

Expert‑level C/C++ programming skills with a passion for writing high‑quality, production‑ready code.

Deep expertise in distributed systems, including consistency models, replication, fault tolerance, distributed coordination, concurrency, and scalability.

Strong experience with object storage, distributed file systems, block storage, and cloud storage architectures.

Proven track record designing and delivering production‑scale distributed storage platforms.

Experience leading architecture and technical execution across cross‑functional and globally distributed engineering teams.

Excellent communication, collaboration, and mentoring skills.

Compensation Range: $200K - $250K

We pride ourselves on our commitment to delivering tangible and consistent results.

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