Director, Software Engineer

Overview

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At NetApp, 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.

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 drive results, innovate to elevate, and excel together across every function.

Job Summary

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As the Director of Software Development for NetApp AI Business Unit, you will lead and scale a high-performing engineering organization to deliver innovative, large-scale services for both cloud and On Premises that delight customers and accelerate business growth. In this key leadership role, you will help set technical direction, build and mentor strong teams, and drive execution across complex, multi-team initiatives.

You will demonstrate ownership and insist on high standards of quality, maintainability, performance, availability, and customer experience. You will simplify complexity, work backward from customer needs, and deliver measurable results. This role requires strong collaboration with senior leaders across AI and other business units. Prior experience in storage systems is preferred but not mandatory.

Key Responsibilities

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As a Director, Software Development, you will:

• Help define strategic direction for software development and architecture across multiple teams and product lines.
• Lead and scale engineering teams, ensuring alignment with business objectives and technical excellence.
• Drive end-to-end software development lifecycle in an Agile environment, from feature definition to production support.
• Establish and optimize development processes, operational metrics, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Mentor and develop engineering managers and senior engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and inclusion.
• Collaborate with senior leadership and cross-functional teams to define priorities and deliver customer-centric solutions.
• Champion operational excellence, including reliability, scalability, and performance of cloud-native services.
• Recruit and retain top talent, building diverse, high-performing teams.
• Advocate for best practices in engineering and operations across the organization.

Key Qualifications

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• 15\+ years of industry experience in software development, including large-scale distributed systems.
• 7\+ years of leadership experience, managing engineering teams and technical leaders.
• Track record of delivering scalable, available, and low-latency cloud services.
• Hands-on experience with cloud-native architectures on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
• Well versed in using agentic engineering using local and/or frontier models.
• Hands-on experience using Distributed Storage Systems.
• Strong business acumen and ability to influence strategy \& direction with senior leadership.
• Strong communication skills, capable of presenting complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Experience defining and implementing best practices for the full software development lifecycle.
• Solid understanding of performance, scalability, and enterprise system architecture.
• Experience with data processing, analytics, and AI/ML systems.
• Prior experience building CI/CD infrastructure for large-scale deployments.

Preferred qualifications

• Domain expertise on knowledge graphs, semantics and data modeling.
• Hands-on experience with Distributed Database Systems.
• Hands-on experience with training and deploying AI models.

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. 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, Performance-Based Incentives, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU’s), with all offerings subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. Benefits may vary by country and region, and further details will be provided as part of 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. 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.

Our values

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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

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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.