Senior Software Engineer (Systems Engineering, C/C++)

About the role

NetApp is looking for a highly experienced Senior Software Development Engineer to lead innovation across cloud infrastructure, software-defined storage, virtualization and distributed systems. The role drives the design and execution of foundational infrastructure that powers NetApp's cloud-native storage and data management services in hyperscaler cloud environments. It calls for strong technical leadership, advanced systems thinking and the ability to spot blockers early.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of scalable, resilient, high-performance infrastructure components across storage, networking, virtualization and Linux layers.
• Drive architecture and technical direction for major subsystems in software-defined storage, virtualization and distributed cloud platforms.
• Contribute to large parts of products across multiple domains and coordinate with stakeholders and partner teams.
• Architect and optimize storage and networking data paths for performance, scalability and reliability in cloud-scale environments.
• Provide technical leadership on virtualization technologies including KVM/QEMU, hypervisor integrations, virtual networking, storage virtualization and orchestration.
• Drive engineering excellence through design practices, observability, scalability, reliability, automation and operational readiness.
• Mentor engineers, lead complex technical challenges and influence technical direction through architecture reviews and mentoring.
• Evaluate emerging technologies in cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, storage and virtualization.

Required profile

• 12+ years of experience in systems software engineering, distributed infrastructure, virtualization, storage systems or cloud infrastructure.
• Significant experience building distributed storage systems, software-defined platforms or cloud-native services.
• Proven ability to lead large cross-functional initiatives and influence engineering outcomes.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in computer science or a similar field preferred.

Required skills

• Expert C/C++ and strong Python; deep Linux internals, kernel, concurrency, memory management and performance engineering.
• KVM/QEMU, virtio, hypervisors, virtual storage and virtual networking.
• Storage and networking subsystems, kernel or device driver development.
• Distributed systems, fault tolerance and reliability engineering.
• Hyperscaler cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, GCP or OCI.

Preferred: experience architecting storage operating systems like ONTAP, large-scale infrastructure modernization, open-source contributions and cloud certifications. The target salary range is 196,350 - 292,600 USD, with a hybrid working environment and a benefits package described as competitive.