Job Information
NetApp Software Engineer - Core Systems and Storage Roles (Multiple Individual Contributor Levels) in San Jose, California
Job Summary
We are hiring experienced Systems Software Engineers across multiple NetApp engineering organizations. This pipeline positing 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.
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