Ddn

Staff Software Engineer, AiDP

Santa Clara, California, United States · Hybrid · FullTime

USD 200,000–250,000/year

Apply on the employer’s site ↗See how well you match this job

You apply directly with the employer. ROLIVA does not submit applications from this page and is not the employer.

About the role

Description from the employer’s posting. Check the employer’s page for the current version.

  • EmployerDdn
  • LocationSanta Clara, California, United States
  • Work styleHybrid
  • Employment typeFullTime
  • Employer posted
  • Salary (as stated by the employer)USD 200,000 – 250,000 per year

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.

Show full description

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:

Intelligent object storage caching

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.

Staying safe while you apply

  • Never pay to apply, interview or accept an offer. ROLIVA never asks you for payment to apply to a job.
  • Apply only through the official “Apply on the employer’s site” button, on the employer’s own site, and check that a recruiter’s email uses that employer’s own domain rather than a free email address.
  • Be cautious of an offer made with no real interview, or pressure to decide quickly or share financial details early.

Does something look wrong with this listing? Use “Report broken link” in the role details, or read ROLIVA’s full job-safety guidance ↗.

Preparing for this role with ROLIVA

  • Check the fit.

    Compare the requirements with the experience you have confirmed, including gaps.

  • Prepare honestly.

    Build interview stories and application drafts from your own evidence.

  • Keep track.

    Save the role and record your own application status and follow-ups.

Create a free workspace or log in.

Software engineer jobs in United States

ROLIVA currently lists 4205 open roles like this in United States.

Employers hiring for this

  • Capital One Financial422 open roles
  • General Motors186 open roles
  • Shieldai179 open roles
  • Boeing118 open roles
  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise87 open roles

Top skills asked for

Listings whose description mentions each term. A mention is not a requirement.

Advertised salary for this role here

These are advertised ranges, not what people are paid.

  • USD a year, after annualising66,560–350,000 (118 listings, 9 employers)

At a glance

  • Work styleHybrid
  • Employment typeFullTime
  • SeniorityLead / Principal
  • Salary (as stated by the employer)USD 200,000–250,000 per year
  • Employer posted
  • Added to ROLIVA
  • Last checked

Skills in this posting

Skills ROLIVA found in the employer’s own description above. A mention is not a requirement.

C++

Explore similar roles

Similar jobs