Storage Systems Engineer – Core OS & Performance

NetApp; Boulder (CO); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

NetApp is hiring experienced Systems Software Engineers to contribute to core storage and data management technologies across ONTAP and related NetApp products. Candidates may be considered for roles across ONTAP, WAFL, Replication/HA, Protocols, Distributed Systems, Cloud Platforms, and Performance Engineering.

Work involves filesystems, storage internals, and performance optimization. We welcome engineers who design, build, and optimize foundational components, collaborate with

Qualifications

• Strong proficiency in C/C++ for systems-level development.
• Understanding of data structures, algorithms, memory management, and concurrency.
• Experience with Unix/Linux systems programming.
• Experience with one or more: filesystems, storage systems, networking/protocol stacks, distributed systems, high-availability architectures.
• Strong debugging and performance analysis skills (gdb, perf, tracing, profiling tools).
• Ability to write maintainable, well‑documented code.
• Effective communication and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and enhance features within ONTAP and related NetApp storage systems.
• Write high-quality C/C++ code that is efficient, reliable, and maintainable.
• Analyze and improve existing code paths for performance, scalability, and correctness.
• Debug complex issues using system-level tools, logs, tracing, and profiling.
• Collaborate across engineering teams, including filesystem, protocol, cloud, hardware, and QA.
• Participate in design and code reviews, contributing to engineering best practices.
• Investigate performance bottlenecks and implement optimizations.
• Support prototyping, research, and feasibility analysis for new ideas and features.
• Communicate design decisions, technical findings, and progress clearly with peers.
• Use AI-assisted tools to accelerate design, development, testing, and troubleshooting.

Skills

C/C++ systems-level

Unix/Linux systems

Data structures & algorithms

Networking/protocols

Debugging & performance

Maintainable code

Communication & collaboration

Education

Bachelor's/Master's in CS/CE

Tools

ONTAP/WAFL familiarity

Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

CI/CD tooling

Job description

NetApp is hiring experienced Systems Software Engineers to contribute to core storage and data management technologies across ONTAP and related NetApp products. Candidates may be considered for roles across ONTAP, WAFL, Replication/HA, Protocols, Distributed Systems, Cloud Platforms, and Performance Engineering.

Work involves filesystems, storage internals, and performance optimization. We welcome engineers who design, build, and optimize foundational components, collaborate with