Software Engineer 5
Job Summary
We’re looking for a Senior Solutions Architect to lead workload-driven performance engineering for Azure NetApp Files (ANF), one of the fastest-growing, enterprise-grade storage platforms on Microsoft Azure.
This is a high-impact, highly visible role that sits at the intersection of customer-facing architecture, deep performance engineering, and strategic product validation.
You will go beyond slideware by designing, building, and benchmarking real-world workloads at massive scale, and turning those insights into best practices that directly influence customer adoption, competitive wins, and multi-million-dollar deals.
Key Responsibilities
- Drive Performance Engineering at Scale.
- Design and execute performance benchmarks using real-world enterprise workloads.
- Build automated test frameworks and lab environments using Python, CI/CD, and benchmarking tools.
- Analyze throughput, IOPS, latency, and scaling characteristics across workload patterns.
- Deliver data-backed recommendations that shape product usage and customer outcomes.
- Partner with Customers and Accelerate Deals.
- Lead technical workshops, architecture design sessions, and proofs of concept.
- Provide sizing, configuration, and optimization guidance for production deployments.
- Act as a trusted technical advisor on large-scale multi-petabyte opportunities.
- Resolve performance challenges with evidence-based recommendations.
- Create Thought Leadership and Industry Guidance.
- Publish high-quality technical content, reference architectures, and best practices aligned to Microsoft Learn standards.
- Build reusable assets for field teams including guides, proof points, and campaign materials.
- Present at customer briefings, partner sessions, and internal enablement events.
- Collaborate Across Product and Engineering.
- Partner with Microsoft and NetApp engineering on benchmark validation and new feature readiness.
- Influence roadmap priorities through real-world performance insights.
- Help define next-generation performance standards across ANF workloads.
Job Requirements
Must Have
- 10+ years in solutions architecture, performance engineering, cloud infrastructure, or enterprise storage.
- Proven track record influencing customer decisions, accelerating deals, or driving adoption.
- Hands-on experience with performance testing and benchmarking.
Technical Expertise
- Strong Linux systems and TCP/IP networking fundamentals.
- Experience with storage protocols such as NFS, SMB, or object/S3.
- Automation skills in Python, Bash, or similar languages.
- Familiarity with performance tools such as fio, iperf, or workload-specific benchmarks.
- Experience with Microsoft Azure and/or Azure NetApp Files.
Platform Knowledge
- Experience with cloud infrastructure across compute, networking, and storage.
- Experience with VMware on Azure or similar virtualization environments.
- Ability to translate complex performance data into actionable insights.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience publishing industry benchmarks such as SPECstorage.
- Background in HPC, EDA, or large-scale distributed systems.
- Database performance experience across SQL Server, Oracle, or PostgreSQL.
- AI or machine learning workload experience.
- Experience with Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, or observability tools.
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
All internal movements within the Product Group via requisition will be lateral, offering valuable growth opportunities to extend your skills in a new area. Opportunities for a promotion will be reviewed in the normal course of business, aligned with our promotion process.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.
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Why NetApp?
Why You'll Thrive at NetApp
At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.
NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.
Our culture
We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.
If you're ready to innovate, rise to the challenge, and own every moment - make your next move your best one. Apply now.
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Learn moreNetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification. We pledge to take every reasonable step to ensure that our applicants and employees are respected, treated fairly, and with dignity. See the EEO poster. NetApp makes reasonable accommodations, consistent with applicable laws, for religious purposes and for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with a disability, who can perform the essential job functions unless undue hardship would result.
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If you are an applicant with a physical or mental disability that requires reasonable accommodation for any part of our application process, please email accessibility@netapp.com. Each request for reasonable accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis, consistent with applicable laws and regulations. Please note, this email address is only for accommodation requests; we do not accept unsolicited resumes.
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We’re sorry, but we cannot accept unsolicited resumes that are sent to NetApp employees or contractors. We will not compensate for a referral without a current contract on file with our Talent Acquisition team. If you’re interested in helping us with a particular role, please call your partner in Talent Acquisition to discuss.