Overview

This is an incredible opportunity to be part of a company that has been at the forefront of AI and high-performance data storage innovation for over two decades. DataDirect Networks (DDN) is a global market leader renowned for powering many of the world's most demanding AI data centers, in industries ranging from life sciences and healthcare to financial services, autonomous cars, Government, academia, research and manufacturing.

  

"DDN's A3I solutions are transforming the landscape of AI infrastructure." – IDC 

  

“The real differentiator is DDN. I never hesitate to recommend DDN. DDN is the de facto name for AI Storage in high performance environments” - Marc Hamilton, VP, Solutions Architecture & Engineering | NVIDIA 

  

DDN is the global leader in AI and multi-cloud data management at scale. Our cutting-edge data intelligence platform is designed to accelerate AI workloads, enabling organizations to extract maximum value from their data. With a proven track record of performance, reliability, and scalability, DDN empowers businesses to tackle the most challenging AI and data-intensive workloads with confidence. 

  

Our success is driven by our unwavering commitment to innovation, customer-centricity, and a team of passionate professionals who bring their expertise and dedication to every project. This is a chance to make a significant impact at a company that is shaping the future of AI and data management. 

  

Our commitment to innovation, customer success, and market leadership makes this an exciting and rewarding role for a driven professional looking to make a lasting impact in the world of AI and data storage. 

Job Description

Staff Software Engineer – IO Path

 

We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to join the Infinia IO Path Team, the core engine driving performance, scalability, and reliability across DDN’s next-generation Data Intelligent Platform. You’ll work alongside top engineers and report directly to a Sr. Engineering Manager focused on erasure coding, SPDK integration, and distributed concurrency control — shaping the future of extreme-scale I/O in AI and data-intensive environments.

 

In this role, you will serve as a technical authority, responsible for architecting and optimizing the I/O stack, influencing design decisions, mentoring other engineers, and delivering robust, high-performance solutions that power mission-critical workloads.

 

This is a hands-on, deep systems engineering role — ideal for someone who thrives in complex, high-throughput, low-latency environments.

 

Key Responsibilities

Core Engineering & Architecture

• Design, develop, and optimize the Infinia I/O path to achieve extreme performance, low latency, and high concurrency under real-world workloads.
• Implement and refine erasure coding algorithms, data durability techniques, and storage efficiency strategies across large clusters.
• Integrate and optimize SPDK (Storage Performance Development Kit) into the I/O layer to leverage direct hardware access and minimize kernel overhead.
• Work on distributed locking mechanisms and concurrency models to ensure consistency, fault tolerance, and throughput at scale.

 

Performance & Scalability

• Analyze and improve I/O subsystems under stress — including memory usage, buffer management, caching strategies, and scheduling mechanisms.
• Drive performance tuning, data path tracing, and throughput profiling across multi-node, multi-device environments.
• Participate in the design of asynchronous, event-driven architectures that support AI pipelines, high-speed data ingestion, and real-time analytics.

 

Technical Leadership

• Serve as a go-to expert on the IO Path team — leading deep technical discussions, code reviews, design validation, and issue triage.
• Work closely with the Sr. Manager of Engineering to shape the technical roadmap, evaluate new technologies, and ensure architectural alignment.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to a culture of quality, rigor, and engineering excellence.

 

Cross-Team Collaboration

• Partner with QA, Storage, Networking, and Performance teams to validate functionality and meet reliability goals.
• Collaborate with Field and Support teams to debug and resolve customer issues, feeding real-world insights back into design improvements.
• Influence test coverage strategies and CI/CD pipelines to ensure scalable and reliable software delivery.