Staff Storage Software Engineer, Solid State Drive Performance

Socket.dev; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 207,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Google is seeking software engineers to design and optimize storage systems, including kernel storage stacks, Linux drivers, and firmware for flash memory. The role emphasizes end-to-end performance, cross-functional leadership, and mentoring engineers across teams.

Expect to work on scalable storage infrastructure and disruptive technologies, with opportunities to influence storage architectures across Google services in Sunnyvale, CA.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience in software development.
• 5 years testing and launching software products.
• 5 years working with embedded operating systems.
• 3 years in software design and architecture.
• Experience in kernel/firmware development and full lifecycle software engineering in C/C++.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of large-scale software including kernel storage stacks and drivers.
• Drive end-to-end storage system performance optimization and tooling.
• Provide technical leadership across cross-functional teams.
• Mentor a distributed team of engineers and manage priorities.
• Innovate in systems software and firmware for flash and non-volatile memory.

Skills

Experience in software development

Testing and launching software

Embedded operating systems

Software design and architecture

C/C++ kernel/firmware

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience

Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering/CS

Job description

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience in software development.
• 5 years of experience testing, and launching software products.
• 5 years of experience working with embedded operating systems.
• 3 years of experience with software design and architecture.
• Experience in kernel/firmware development and full-lifecycle software engineering including testing, debugging, and deployment in C and C++.

Preferred qualifications:

• Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• 8 years of experience with data structures and algorithms.
• 3 years of experience in a technical leadership role leading project teams and setting technical direction.
• 3 years of experience working in a complex, matrixed organization involving cross-functional, or cross-business projects.
• Experience with performance analysis, optimization, and monitoring infrastructure, with proficiency in Python and SQL for systems software development.
• Knowledge of storage systems, including Solid-State Drives (SSD), kernel drivers, Linux Kernel Storage Input/Output stack, and storage protocols such as NVMe, SATA, ATA, and SAS.

About the job:

Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.

Platforms Storage is responsible for building storage solutions for all of Google's services. The Solid State Drive Performance (SSD) Performance team in particular is responsible for everything related to SSD system-level performance, from requirements (concept stage) to post-deployment. This includes verifying, optimizing, testing, infrastructure-development, debugging, and monitoring of our SSDs' performance. We also develop novel technologies that deliver differentiating performance from our devices in Search, Cloud, and D use-cases. We develop and extend storage drivers, firmware, tools, and performance-analytics. We work closely with both our SSD vendors and our SSD users. The impact is huge, as this work sets the foundation for consistent and performant storage devices for Google for the multitude of our use-cases.

The AI and Infrastructure team is redefining what’s possible. We empower Google customers with breakthrough capabilities and insights by delivering AI and Infrastructure at unparalleled scale, efficiency, reliability and velocity. Our customers include Googlers, Google Cloud customers, and billions of Google users worldwide.

We're the driving force behind Google's groundbreaking innovations, empowering the development of our cutting-edge AI models, delivering unparalleled computing power to global services, and providing the essential platforms that enable developers to build the future. From software to hardware our teams are shaping the future of world-leading hyperscale computing, with key teams working on the development of our TPUs, Vertex AI for Google Cloud, Google Global Networking, Data Center operations, systems research, and much more.

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $207000 - $300000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of large-scale software solutions, including kernel storage stacks, Linux drivers, firmware, and user-space interfaces optimized for flash performance, security, and capacity.
• Drive end-to-end storage system performance optimization and management, including the development of software tools and utilities for deployment and system-level control.
• Provide technical leadership on high-impact projects, setting technical direction and facilitating alignment on goals and timelines across cross-functional teams.
• Influence, coach, and mentor a distributed team of engineers while managing project priorities, deadlines, and deliverables.
• Innovate in systems software and firmware for flash and non-volatile memory to enhance Google's storage infrastructure.