Principal Software Engineer (AI)
NetApp · Posted Nov 3
Hybrid cloud data services, enterprise storage, and cloud operations solutions
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About the role
NetApp is building intelligent data infrastructure to help customers make their data AI-ready. The AI Business Unit is creating AI Data Services that connect enterprise data with analytics and AI agents. As a Principal Engineer, the role involves architecting and shaping this new platform, leading complex technical initiatives across storage, data, and AI while remaining a hands-on individual contributor.
What you will do
- Serve as the architectural north star for the system, resolving the hardest design, performance, and scaling problems as the team turns customer data into something analytically useful for people and AI agents.
- Design and tech-lead complex, cross-team initiatives, setting technical direction for products at the intersection of storage, data, and AI.
- Drive high-leverage technical decisions on data architecture, including technology choices, data modeling, and system scalability and reliability, across both on-premises and cloud deployments.
Skills used in this role
What the employer is looking for
- 10+ years of hands-on software engineering experience, including technical lead or primary design owner experience on distributed systems, data platforms.
- Deep hands-on experience in Python, Java, or a comparable modern language, building production-grade data pipelines and services.
- Hands-on experience with agentic AI engineering, or AI/agent-facing infrastructure such as retrieval, search, or tool-access protocols for AI applications.
- Strong understanding of modern data platform architectures, including data lakes, table formats, and Iceberg-based (or comparable) catalog systems.
- Exposure to large-scale distributed systems, including streaming or event-driven architectures.
- Hands-on experience with cloud-native architectures, and familiarity with on-premises infrastructure and storage systems.
- Experience with distributed query engines and SQL-based data access patterns.
- Demonstrated ability to drive technical decisions and influence direction across multiple engineering teams without relying on formal management authority.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field required. Equivalent practical experience will be considered in lieu of formal education.
Benefits and support
- Compensation and benefits are detailed in the job posting
About NetApp
NetApp, Inc. is an American data infrastructure and data management company that provides unified data storage, integrated data services, and hybrid multi-cloud operations solutions to enterprise customers. Founded in 1992, the company empowers global enterprises to manage applications and data seamlessly across on-premises environments and major public clouds. NetApp specializes in intelligent data infrastructure, cyber resilience, and AI-driven data optimization.
- Industry
- Cloud Computing
- Company size
- 11700 employees
- Founded
- 1992
- Location
- San Jose, California, USA
- Funding stage
- Public Company
Funding
Public Company
Leadership
Chief Executive Officer
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer
President
Chief Technology Officer
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