Software Engineer - Core Systems and Storage Roles (Multiple Individual Contributor Levels)

Job Summary

We are hiring experienced Systems Software Engineers across multiple NetApp engineering organizations. This pipeline posting is designed to attract strong C/C++ systems-level engineers who can contribute to core storage and data management technologies across ONTAP and other NetApp products. Candidates will be considered for roles on several teams, including ONTAP, WAFL, Replication/HA, Protocols (NFS/SMB/SAN/NVMe), Distributed Systems, Cloud Platforms, and Performance Engineering.

Engineers in these roles design, build, and optimize foundational components of NetApp’s storage stack. You will work on real-world problems involving filesystems, storage internals, distributed systems, performance, scalability, reliability, and data integrity. Work may include developing new features, enhancing subsystems, analyzing complex code paths, improving throughput and latency, debugging customer issues, or driving proofs of concept. You will collaborate with senior engineers, product teams, hardware teams, and cloud engineering groups to deliver high-quality software used globally by enterprise customers.

This posting can support multiple levels (3, 4, and 5). Team and level placement will be determined during the interview process based on experience, technical depth, and demonstrated capabilities.

Job Requirements

Core Responsibilities (All Levels)

Design, implement, and enhance features within ONTAP and related NetApp storage systems

Write high-quality C/C++ code that is efficient, reliable, and maintainable

Analyze and improve existing code paths for performance, scalability, and correctness

Debug complex issues using system-level tools, logs, tracing, and profiling

Collaborate across engineering teams, including filesystem, protocol, cloud, hardware, and QA

Participate in design and code reviews, contributing to engineering best practices

Investigate performance bottlenecks and implement optimizations

Support prototyping, research, and feasibility analysis for new ideas and features

Communicate design decisions, technical findings, and progress clearly with peers

Use AI-assisted tools to accelerate design, development, testing, and troubleshooting

Level‑Specific Requirements

Software Engineer 3 (5–8 years)

Owns well-defined components or features

Implements end-to-end functionality with guidance

Performs profiling, debugging, and testing across subsystems

Contributes to design discussions and supports cross-team integration

Ramps quickly on ONTAP, WAFL, protocols, or storage technologies

Software Engineer 4 (9–15 years)

Designs and owns complex subsystems or multi-sprint epics

Drives cross-team delivery with minimal supervision

Mentors junior and mid-level engineers

Leads deep-dive debugging and performance analysis

Improves reliability, observability, and architecture patterns

Software Engineer 5 (12–16 years)

Leads major technical initiatives across teams or product line

Defines long-term architectural direction and technical strategy

Resolves highly complex system-wide issues in performance, data integrity, HA, scale, or protocols

Mentors senior engineers and influences engineering culture

Demonstrates deep domain expertise in filesystems, operating systems, HA/replication, or distributed systems

Qualifications

Required Technical Qualifications

Strong proficiency in C/C++ for systems-level development

Understanding of data structures, algorithms, memory management, and concurrency

Experience with Unix/Linux systems programming

Experience with one or more: filesystems, storage systems, networking/protocol stacks, distributed systems, high-availability architectures

Strong debugging and performance analysis skills (gdb, perf, tracing, profiling tools)

Ability to write maintainable, well-documented code

Effective communication and collaboration skills

Qualifications that make you stand out:

Experience with ONTAP, WAFL, or similar storage operating systems

Experience with NFS, SMB, SAN (iSCSI/FC), NVMe/TCP, NVMe-oF

Experience with replication, clustering, HA, or consistency protocols

Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI)

Exposure to kernel subsystems, VFS, IO schedulers, caching, or media management

Experience with distributed systems design and large-scale performance tuning

Knowledge of CI/CD, test automation, and modern development practices

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field

Equivalent practical experience considered

Compensation:

The target salary range for this position is $120,000 - $280,000. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. The range is based on 'On Target Earnings’ (OTE) representing the total potential earnings, which is the sum of the base salary and potential commission earned when performance targets are achieved. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package. This may cover Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement or Pension Plans, Paid Time Off, various Leave options, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU’s). These offerings are subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. We will provide detailed information about the specific benefits for your region during the recruitment process.