Staff Engineer, Lustre

DDN
Santa Clara Office, US
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for experienced distributed storage engineers who debug complex systems and collaborate across teams, with a focus on LustreFS and AI-assisted workflows.

Best fit for

  • Experienced engineers with deep LustreFS subsystem expertise and a track record in large-scale distributed systems
    — “10+ years of experience in distributed storage and Linux-based systems engineering”
  • Individuals comfortable with AI-assisted debugging and documentation practices
    — “comfortable using AI to accelerate triage, debugging, code comprehension and new feature design”

Things to consider

  • The role demands a high level of independence and ownership in subsystem-level investigations
    — “can independently drive complex investigations”
  • Candidates must be prepared for cross-functional collaboration, including with QE and support teams
    — “collaborates effectively across engineering, QE, support and release teams”
  • The position requires working with large-scale Lustre deployments and high-performance networking protocols
    — “Experience with LNet and/or high-performance transports such as RDMA, InfiniBand, RoCE or TCP-based storage networking”

How to stand out

  • Highlight specific LustreFS subsystems you've worked on and your impact on reliability improvements
    — “Design, develop and debug LustreFS features, fixes and enhancements across relevant subsystems”
  • Demonstrate experience with performance tuning and failure analysis in large-scale environments
    — “Contribute to performance tuning, failure analysis and reliability improvements for large-scale Lustre deployments”
  • Showcase your ability to use AI tools for debugging and documentation in your resume and interview examples
    — “Use AI-assisted tools where appropriate to speed up issue triage, summarize logs, improve code understanding”
  • Emphasize your collaborative contributions to testing and operational readiness in past roles
    — “bringing rigor to testing and operational readiness”
  • Demonstrate your ability to mentor or lead focused technical efforts in your background
    — “Experience mentoring junior engineers or leading focused technical efforts within a subsystem”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Design and debug complex LustreFS features
  • Contribute to reliability and performance improvements
Typical background
Systems softwareDistributed systemsStorage engineering

Skills & requirements

Required

Lustrefs DevelopmentLinux Systems DebuggingDistributed StoragePerformance TuningRoot Cause AnalysisCode ReviewsOperational Readiness

Preferred

AI For DebuggingHPCAI InfrastructureLarge-scale Parallel Storage

Stack & domain

Lustrefs DevelopmentLinux KernelFilesystem EngineeringC ProgrammingLinux Systems DebuggingLnetRDMAInfinibandRoceTcp-based Storage NetworkingAi-assisted ToolsCode ReviewsDesign ReviewsSubsystem DiscussionsPerformance TuningFailure AnalysisReliability ImprovementsDiagnostic Data QualityHigh-risk Failure ScenariosSubsystem BehaviorDebugging ApproachesKnown Failure PatternsOperational Best PracticesTest PlansReproducer FrameworksRunbooksDiagnostic AutomationMetadata-heavy WorkloadsThroughput-heavy WorkloadsZFSLdiskfsNvme-backed StorageObservabilityPerformance ToolingMentoring Junior EngineersLeading Focused Technical EffortsCollaborationProblem-solvingCommunicationAttention To DetailTeamworkLeadershipIndependent WorkTime ManagementStress ManagementDistributed StorageLinux-based Systems EngineeringHPCAI InfrastructureLarge-scale Parallel Storage Environments

About the role

Original posting from DDN via Ashby

We are seeking a Staff Engineer with 10+ years of experience in distributed storage and Linux-based systems engineering. This is a hands-on senior technical role focused on design, debugging, performance, and operational excellence across LustreFS and adjacent stack components. The ideal candidate brings strong expertise in one or more Lustre subsystems, can independently drive complex investigations, and collaborates effectively across engineering, QE, support and release teams. Engineers who are comfortable using AI to accelerate triage, debugging, code comprehension and new feature design will be especially valuable.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Design, develop and debug LustreFS features, fixes and enhancements across relevant subsystems such as llite, MDS/MDT, OSS/OST, LDLM and LNet.
  • Investigate customer and scale-related defects, drive root-cause analysis and implement high-quality fixes with strong attention to correctness and maintainability.
  • Contribute to performance tuning, failure analysis and reliability improvements for large-scale Lustre deployments.
  • Participate actively in code reviews, design reviews and subsystem discussions, bringing rigor to testing and operational readiness.
  • Work closely with QE and support to reproduce issues, improve diagnostic data quality and increase coverage for high-risk failure scenarios.
  • Help document subsystem behavior, debugging approaches, known failure patterns and operational best practices.
  • Use AI-assisted tools where appropriate to speed up issue triage, summarize logs, improve code understanding and capture reusable lessons learned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • 10+ years of experience in systems software, distributed systems, storage, Linux kernel or filesystem engineering.
  • Strong experience in LustreFS development, support or performance engineering with depth in at least one major subsystem.
  • Strong C programming and Linux systems debugging skills.
  • Working knowledge of Linux kernel internals, filesystem semantics, networking and performance analysis.
  • Experience with LNet and/or high-performance transports such as RDMA, InfiniBand, RoCE or TCP-based storage networking.
  • Ability to debug and resolve issues spanning multiple layers including client, server, network and backend storage.
  • Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work across functions in a fast-moving engineering environment.

PREFERRED SKILLS

  • Experience in HPC, AI infrastructure or large-scale parallel storage environments.
  • Exposure to metadata-heavy and throughput-heavy workload characterization and tuning.
  • Familiarity with ZFS, ldiskfs, NVMe-backed storage and related observability / performance tooling.
  • Experience creating test plans, reproducer frameworks, runbooks or diagnostic automation.
  • Comfort using AI tools to accelerate debugging, code reviews, triage, documentation and early-stage design ideation.
  • Experience mentoring junior engineers or leading focused technical efforts within a subsystem.

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON

  • Hands-on development and debugging of LustreFS defects, performance issues and subsystem enhancements.
  • Customer-facing and scale-related issue investigation across llite, metadata, object storage, LNet and transport layers.
  • Collaborative design and implementation of reliability, observability and serviceability improvements.
  • Reviewing and validating fixes through targeted tests, failure injection, log analysis and performance characterization.
  • Using AI-assisted workflows to accelerate triage, debug loops, code understanding and documentation quality.
  • Contributing to team redundancy by strengthening documentation, code review quality and subsystem knowledge sharing.

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

This role is central to building durable engineering redundancy in LustreFS: expanding deep subsystem ownership, reducing concentration risk, and accelerating next-generation delivery through strong engineering fundamentals and AI-enabled execution.

Source: DDN careers (Ashby)

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