Staff Engineer - Data Path

About the role

DDN is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join the Data Ocean engineering team and develop high-performance data path software for next-generation AI and enterprise storage platforms.

This role focuses on designing, implementing, and optimizing core data path services that enable intelligent caching, object storage integration, metadata management, and efficient data movement across modern storage environments.

The ideal candidate is a strong systems engineer with deep C/C++ development expertise, experience building high-performance Linux-based software, and a passion for solving complex storage and distributed systems challenges.

This is a hands-on engineering role requiring ownership of design, implementation, debugging, performance optimization, and delivery of production-quality software.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Data Path Software Development

- Design and implement high-performance data path components for the Data Ocean platform.

- Develop intelligent caching capabilities for object storage workloads.

- Build scalable services for data movement across object, file, and block storage environments.

- Implement metadata management services supporting efficient object tracking, lookup, and on-demand retrieval.

- Develop cache management capabilities including quota management, eviction policies, and lifecycle controls.

- Optimize data transfer pipelines for throughput, latency, scalability, and reliability.

- Analyze, debug, and optimize system performance across large-scale storage workloads.

- Develop production-quality C/C++ software for high-performance storage systems.

- Design and implement multithreaded, concurrent systems software on Linux platforms.

- Work on storage data path components involving caching, metadata handling, I/O processing, and distributed coordination.

- Improve scalability, reliability, and performance of core storage services through profiling and optimization.

- Troubleshoot complex system issues involving performance, concurrency, and data consistency.

- Participate in architecture discussions, technical design reviews, and code reviews.

- Collaborate with senior engineers, architects, and cross-functional teams across global engineering locations.

- Work closely with QA, performance engineering, and release teams to deliver reliable production software.

- Contribute to engineering best practices, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.

- 8+ years of experience developing systems software, storage software, or distributed systems.

- Strong expertise in C/C++ programming with experience developing production-grade software.