Software Engineer 6
Job Summary
Job Summary
NetApp is pioneering object storage—S3-compatible, software-defined storage that powers the exponential growth of AI data lakes, analytics, and exabyte-scale enterprise data. As a Principal Engineer for Datapath / Performance, you will own the architecture and technical direction of the StorageGRID S3 data path and its end-to-end performance.
This role is ideal for a deeply hands-on technical leader who thrives at the intersection of distributed systems, storage internals, and high-scale performance engineering. You will set the bar for a mission-critical product deployed at hundreds of nodes and exabytes of capacity across the world’s largest enterprises and hyperscalers.
Role Overview
As a Principal Engineer on the StorageGRID team, you will be the technical authority for the S3 data path including metadata and performance. You will define the architectural north star for how StorageGRID moves and serves data and resolve the hardest performance and scaling problems affecting AI data lakes.
At the Principal level, the role requires exceptional hands-on technical depth, sound architectural judgment, and the ability to influence direction across engineering, QA, product management, and field teams.
Job Responsibilities
- Datapath Architecture
- Own the architecture and technical implementation of the StorageGRID S3 data path — from ingest/retrieve/delete to metadata storage to the on-disk replicated/erasure-coded data flow.
- Lead performance analysis, benchmarking then identify performance improvements and deliver.
- Design for scale and geo-distribution—multi-site, cross-grid replication, and global/federated namespace behavior at hundreds of nodes and exabyte scale
- Drive large, cross-cutting data path initiatives from architecture through implementation, validation, and release readiness
- Hands-On Technical Leadership
- Stay deep in the code and the hardest bugs; set the technical bar through high-quality design, reviews, root-cause analysis, and pragmatic engineering standards
- Lead StorageGRID designs and drive architectural alignment across data path engineering.
Job Requirements
- 12+ years of experience in systems, storage, distributed systems, or performance engineering, with a track record of technical leadership
- Strong hands-on programming skills in one or more of C/C++, Go, or Python, and experience debugging distributed software in Linux-based environments
- Built or owned an object storage system, S3 implementation, or large-scale distributed storage/database product including request data path, data placement, replication/erasure coding, consistency, and failure handling
- Experience with Apache Cassandra or comparable distributed databases at scale
- Proven ability to influence technical direction across teams without direct authority
- Mentor Senior and MTS engineers on data path internals, performance optimization, distributed-systems design, and debugging practices
- Collaborate with quality engineering, product management, supportability, support, and field teams to translate customer requirements into data path and performance improvements
Nice to Have Qualifications
- Experience with S3 protocol semantics (multipart, versioning, Object Lock/WORM) and the data path implications of the API contract
- Experience with load balancing, network, storage media (NVMe/SSD/HDD), and x86 hardware
- Experience with AI-assisted development and observability tooling for analysis, debugging, testing, and documentation
Education
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.
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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.
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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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