Sr/Staff Lustre Engineer
DDN · Hybrid
MeritLog read this listing from DDN's Ashby job board and last checked it on September 10, 2026.
Source: the employer's Ashby job board. Open the original listing for current details.
Job details
- Work model
- Hybrid
- Salary
- Not listed by source
- Location
- Remote - California
Hiring context
How this role compares at DDN
DDN has 97 live roles in MeritLog’s catalog across 9 job families, and 58 of them are in engineering. 21 of those listings publish a pay range, a disclosure rate of 22%.
DDN concentrates this hiring in:
Counted across the job boards MeritLog tracks, at the time this page was served. Pay comparisons use only listings that publish a complete range in the same currency and period.
What the role asks for
What you'd do
- Contribute to Lustre architecture and lead implementation of new features across core subsystems including MDS/OSS, LDLM, DNE, DoM, FLD, layout, snapshot, quota, security, and recovery
- Write high-performance, production-grade code across the Lustre kernel module, user-space utilities, and supporting libraries
- Own the full development lifecycle for major features, from design and coding through testing, performance tuning, and upstream patch submission
- Improve scalability for multi-petabyte Lustre environments, including metadata performance, I/O path optimization, and integration with modern interconnects and storage fabrics
- Modernize Lustre internals through kernel API updates, locking improvements, RDMA enhancements, and cloud/container-oriented capabilities
- Prototype and evaluate emerging technologies such as NVMe-oF, CXL, and other next-generation storage approaches for potential Lustre integration
- Strengthen regression, stress, and performance validation using tools such as IOR, mdtest, fio, and custom Lustre test tooling
- Perform deep code-level performance analysis using Lustre tracing tools, perf, lockstat, and kernel profilers
- Work closely with Principal Engineers, hardware teams, and application owners to translate real workload needs into practical Lustre improvements
- Mentor other developers and contribute design docs, technical guides, and engineering reviews
- 7+ years of progressive, hands-on Lustre software development experience
- A strong track record of meaningful contributions to the Lustre codebase in production or open-source environments
- Demonstrated success designing, implementing, and upstreaming Lustre features that made it into major releases
- Deep understanding of Lustre internals, including MDS/OSS architecture, LDLM locking and recovery, journaling, DNE, DoM, FLD, layout, quota, and security
- Expert-level C programming and strong Linux kernel development experience
- Strong knowledge of distributed systems, parallel file systems, and high-performance I/O
- Experience with Lustre build, development, and debugging tooling such as lctl, llstat, strace, perf, and kernel tracers
- Python and/or Bash skills for tooling and automation
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field
- Clear written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts effectively
What they're asking for
- 7+ years in HPC or storage software developmentExperiencePreferred
- Visible contributions to the Lustre open-source community, including accepted patches, LUG participation, or public technical talksSkillPreferred
- Experience running or developing Lustre in cloud environments such as AWS FSx for Lustre, Azure Lustre, or custom cloud deploymentsSkillPreferred
- Familiarity with adjacent systems such as Ceph, DAOS, BeeGFS, WekaIO, or GPFSSkillPreferred
- Exposure to RDMA, NVMe-oF, CXL, computational storage, or AI/ML I/O workloadsSkillPreferred
- Conference presentations, technical publications, or other public engineering contributionsSkillPreferred
- Have built inside Lustre itself, not just around itSkillPreferred
- Enjoy solving hard kernel, performance, and distributed systems problemsSkillPreferred
- Care about code quality, upstream contribution, and long-term architectural impactSkillPreferred
- Want to work on infrastructure that operates at real scale under real performance constraintsSkillPreferred
Parsed by MeritLog from the employer’s own posting. The full description follows below.
Job description
WHAT YOU’LL DO - Contribute to Lustre architecture and lead implementation of new features across core subsystems including MDS/OSS, LDLM, DNE, DoM, FLD, layout, snapshot, quota, security, and recovery - Write high-performance, production-grade code across the Lustre kernel module, user-space utilities, and supporting libraries - Own the full development lifecycle for major features, from design and coding through testing, performance tuning, and upstream patch submission - Improve scalability for multi-petabyte Lustre environments, including metadata performance, I/O path optimization, and integration with modern interconnects and storage fabrics - Modernize Lustre internals through kernel API updates, locking improvements, RDMA enhancements, and cloud/container-oriented capabilities - Prototype and evaluate emerging technologies such as NVMe-oF, CXL, and other next-generation storage approaches for potential Lustre integration - Strengthen regression, stress, and performance validation using tools such as IOR, mdtest, fio, and custom Lustre test tooling - Perform deep code-level performance analysis using Lustre tracing tools, perf, lockstat, and kernel profilers - Work closely with Principal Engineers, hardware teams, and application owners to translate real workload needs into practical Lustre improvements - Mentor other developers and contribute design docs, technical guides, and engineering reviews WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR - 7+ years of progressive, hands-on Lustre software development experience - A strong track record of meaningful contributions to the Lustre codebase in production or open-source environments - Demonstrated success designing, implementing, and upstreaming Lustre features that made it into major releases - Deep understanding of Lustre internals, including MDS/OSS architecture, LDLM locking and recovery, journaling, DNE, DoM, FLD, layout, quota, and security - Expert-level C programming and strong Linux kernel development experience - Strong knowledge of distributed systems, parallel file systems, and high-performance I/O - Experience with Lustre build, development, and debugging tooling such as lctl, llstat, strace, perf, and kernel tracers - Python and/or Bash skills for tooling and automation - Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field - Clear written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts effectively NICE TO HAVE - 7+ years in HPC or storage software development - Visible contributions to the Lustre open-source community, including accepted patches, LUG participation, or public technical talks - Experience running or developing Lustre in cloud environments such as AWS FSx for Lustre, Azure Lustre, or custom cloud deployments - Familiarity with adjacent systems such as Ceph, DAOS, BeeGFS, WekaIO, or GPFS - Exposure to RDMA, NVMe-oF, CXL, computational storage, or AI/ML I/O workloads - Conference presentations, technical publications, or other public engineering contributions YOU’LL LIKELY BE A STRONG FIT IF YOU… - Have built inside Lustre itself, not just around it - Enjoy solving hard kernel, performance, and distributed systems problems - Care about code quality, upstream contribution, and long-term architectural impact - Want to work on infrastructure that operates at real scale under real performance constraints THIS ROLE IS PROBABLY NOT THE RIGHT FIT IF YOU… - Have mainly supported or administered Lustre rather than developed it - Come from general storage or kernel backgrounds without clear Lustre code contribution history - Prefer high-level application engineering over low-level systems and kernel work
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