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Explore roles where you can make measurable impact, keep learning, and collaborate with high-performing teams.

Principal Engineer, Data Path / Metadata / Performance (StorageGRID)

Morrisville, North Carolina, United States

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Overview

At NetApp, our High Achievement Principles shape how we work: we innovate to elevate, drive results, and excel as a team. We have a history of helping customers turn challenges into business opportunities. That’s because we bring new thinking to age-old problems, like how to use data most effectively in the most efficient possible way. As an Engineer with NetApp, you’ll have the opportunity to work with modern cloud and container orchestration technologies in a production setting. You’ll play an important role in scaling systems sustainably through automation and evolving them by pushing for changes to improve reliability and velocity.

Success profile

Ready to be an engineer at NetApp? Explore the traits that can help you thrive.

  • Analytical
  • Adaptable
  • Communicator
  • Detail-oriented
  • Quick-thinking
  • Problem solver

Responsibilities

Morrisville, North Carolina, United States Job category: Software Engineering Job ID: 136224-en_US

Own Every Moment at NetApp

At NetApp, your ideas power innovation. We lead in intelligent data infrastructure—delivering unified storage, integrated data services, and solutions that help organizations unlock the full potential of their data, from AI to multicloud.

Ready to innovate and contribute to our path to $10B? Here, you'll collaborate with passionate teams, tackle real-world challenges, and see your impact in how customers transform and grow. If you're ready to bring curiosity, creativity, and drive to every moment, NetApp is where your journey begins. Join teams that innovate to elevate, drive results, and excel together across every function.

Job Summary

Job Summary 

NetApp is pioneering object storage—S3-compatible, software-defined storage that powers the exponential growth of AI data lakes, analytics, and exabyte-scale enterprise data. As a Principal Engineer for Datapath / Performance, you will own the architecture and technical direction of the StorageGRID S3 data path and its end-to-end performance. 

This role is ideal for a deeply hands-on technical leader who thrives at the intersection of distributed systems, storage internals, and high-scale performance engineering. You will set the bar for a mission-critical product deployed at hundreds of nodes and exabytes of capacity across the world’s largest enterprises and hyperscalers. 

Role Overview 

As a Principal Engineer on the StorageGRID team, you will be the technical authority for the S3 data path including metadata and performance. You will define the architectural north star for how StorageGRID moves and serves data and resolve the hardest performance and scaling problems affecting AI data lakes. 

At the Principal level, the role requires exceptional hands-on technical depth, sound architectural judgment, and the ability to influence direction across engineering, QA, product management, and field teams. 

We are considering candidates in Vancouver, Canada ($225,250 - $291,500 CAD) and Raleigh, North Carolina ($227,800 - $338,800 USD)

Job Responsibilities

  • Datapath Architecture  
  • Own the architecture and technical implementation of the StorageGRID S3 data path — from ingest/retrieve/delete to metadata storage to the on-disk replicated/erasure-coded data flow. 
  • Lead performance analysis, benchmarking then identify performance improvements and deliver.  
  • Design for scale and geo-distribution—multi-site, cross-grid replication, and global/federated namespace behavior at hundreds of nodes and exabyte scale 
  • Drive large, cross-cutting data path initiatives from architecture through implementation, validation, and release readiness 
  • Hands-On Technical Leadership 
  • Stay deep in the code and the hardest bugs; set the technical bar through high-quality design, reviews, root-cause analysis, and pragmatic engineering standards 
  • Lead StorageGRID designs and drive architectural alignment across data path engineering. 

Job Requirements

  • 12+ years of experience in systems, storage, distributed systems, or performance engineering, with a track record of technical leadership 
  • Strong hands-on programming skills in one or more of C/C++, Go, or Python, and experience debugging distributed software in Linux-based environments 
  • Built or owned an object storage system, S3 implementation, or large-scale distributed storage/database product including request data path, data placement, replication/erasure coding, consistency, and failure handling 
  • Experience with Apache Cassandra or comparable distributed databases at scale 
  • Proven ability to influence technical direction across teams without direct authority 
  • Mentor Senior and MTS engineers on data path internals, performance optimization, distributed-systems design, and debugging practices 
  • Collaborate with quality engineering, product management, supportability, support, and field teams to translate customer requirements into data path and performance improvements 

Nice to Have Qualifications 

  • Experience with S3 protocol semantics (multipart, versioning, Object Lock/WORM) and the data path implications of the API contract 
  • Experience with load balancing, network, storage media (NVMe/SSD/HDD), and x86 hardware 
  • Experience with AI-assisted development and observability tooling for analysis, debugging, testing, and documentation 

Education

IC - Typically requires a minimum of 15 years of related experience.Mgr & Exec - Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience.

Compensation:
The target salary range for this position is 227,800 - 338,800 USD. 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.

At NetApp, we embrace a hybrid working environment designed to strengthen connection, collaboration, and culture for all employees. This means that most roles will have some level of in-office and/or in-person expectations, which will be shared during the recruitment process.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.

Why You'll Thrive at NetApp

At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.

NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.

Our culture

We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.

If you're ready to innovate, rise to the challenge, and own every moment - make your next move your best one. Apply now.

Submitting an Application

To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team only reviews applications submitted through our company website. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.

AI Disclosure

For select roles, some stages of our hiring process may use artificial intelligence tools to help evaluate applications and candidate selection. These tools support—rather than replace—human decision-making.


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Our values

Put the customer at the center. Care for each other and our communities. Think and act like owners. Build belonging every day. Embrace a growth mindset.

Benefits

Volunteer time off

40 hours of paid volunteer time each year.

Well-being

Employee Assistance Program, fitness, and mental health resources to help employees be their best.

Time away

Paid time off for vacation and to recharge.

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Equal Opportunity Employer*

NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status and any other protected classification. We pledge to take every reasonable step to ensure that our applicants and employees are respected, treated fairly and with dignity. See the EEO poster, Know your rights poster, and NetApp EEO policy. NetApp makes reasonable accommodations, consistent with applicable laws, for religious purposes and for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with a disability, who can perform the essential job functions unless undue hardship would result.

State-specific postings/notices to applicants regarding contract compliance can be found here in English and here in Spanish, and fair employment practice information can be found here.

Reasonable Accommodations

At NetApp, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible workplace where individuals with disabilities can thrive. In alignment with our values, NetApp provides reasonable accommodations and adjustments where possible to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities, in accordance with employment rights and regulations relevant to their country of employment, to ensure equal access to employment opportunities and job performance.

Applicants who would like to request an accommodation or adjustment are encouraged to Contact Us. Each request will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with applicable laws and our commitment to equity and belonging within our culture, values and business practices. Requests will be handled confidentially and respectfully, and we will work collaboratively to identify effective solutions.

  • For reasonable accommodations in Germany, click here.
  • For reasonable accommodations in France, click here.
  • For reasonable accommodations in The Netherlands, click here.

Please note that we do not accept unsolicited resumes to the above email address.

Data privacy

We care about your privacy and, therefore, ask that you read our Candidate Privacy Notice before you submit any personal information to us.

NetApp does not carry out any solely automated decision making (i.e. the process of making a decision by automated means without any human involvement) in determining your suitability or eligibility for specific roles.

However, the processing of your personal information is carried out with the aid of manual and automated tools. In particular, NetApp may use an automated employment evaluation tool or similar tool as one of several tools, actions, and/or steps to assist with NetApp’s review of candidate applications for various hiring needs.

Currently, when addressing certain hiring needs, NetApp uses the following tools: 

  • Eightfold (eightfold.ai): This tool can provide an initial ranking of a candidate’s skills and experience, based on information provided by the applicant in the application and/or supporting documentation, in comparison to the NetApp designated key requirements of a specific role. Additionally, the tool may be used to help review and/or rank internal employees seeking promotion or other internal mobility. An independent audit of the Eightfold Matching Model tool can be found at https://eightfold.ai/nyc-eightfoldmatching-model
  • Findem (findem.ai): This tool is used to help identify candidates whose skills and experience may be relevant to open roles at NetApp, using publicly available professional information. Findem may also be used to assist with candidate matching, AI-assisted screening, and recruitment communications. 

Our talent acquisition team or our recruiters will ultimately select the candidates for further consideration, following human review of any automated evaluation results and associated underlying documentation (or lack thereof) submitted with the candidates’ application. 

Candidates may request an alternative selection process which will not be subject to the Eightfold matching tool or to any electronic automated employment evaluation by contacting NetApp at careers@netapp.com. To bypass the Eightfold matching tool or any electronic automated employment evaluation, you must include a resume and job ID with your email to careers@netapp.com and you must include in the subject line of your email: Data Privacy Request. Candidates who have questions or want to request additional information on the source of data, type of data, and/or collection of data related to the candidate review process should contact NetApp at careers@netapp.com

Note: Eightfold is not applicable to temporary hiring opportunities. If you are interested in temporary roles, you can apply via a third-party site managed by our preferred supplier, Magnit Global. Magnit Global will provide its own privacy disclosures for your review as part of the application process.

Submitting an application

To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team reviews apcplications submitted through our company website only. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.

AI Disclosure

For select roles, some stages of our hiring process may use AI-powered tools to assist with tasks such as identifying relevant candidates, matching skills and experience to role requirements, and conducting initial screenings. These tools support - rather than replace - human decision-making. To learn more, please see our AI Transparency Statement. If you would prefer not to engage with an AI-assisted process, you can request an alternative by contacting careers@netapp.com. Choosing an alternative process will not impact your candidacy in any way.