Sales Engineer - Strategic AI

Data Direct Networks

$90K — $130K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
  • 3-8+ years in pre-sales, solutions architecture, or technical consulting (for experienced candidates)
  • Strong understanding of storage and data architectures: SAN, NAS, object storage, parallel file systems
  • Hands-on experience with enterprise storage systems and AI/ML infrastructure is preferred
  • Ability to communicate technical concepts to both engineers and executives

Responsibilities

  • Partner with customers to analyze their data challenges across various industries
  • Translate complex technical requirements into scalable storage solutions
  • Act as a trusted advisor throughout the sales cycle for customers
  • Architect storage solutions for AI/ML training, HPC, and data analytics
  • Create system architectures and technical proposals for complex RFPs
  • Conduct live demonstrations, POCs, and performance benchmarks
  • Stay updated on trends in AI infrastructure and collaborate with internal teams

Benefits

  • Remote work flexibility
  • Mentoring opportunities
  • Collaboration within cutting-edge technology environments
  • Exposure to leading AI and HPC projects
  • Contribution to product direction based on customer needs
Full Job Description
Overview

As a Sales Engineer, you'll architect high-performance storage solutions that enable customers to achieve their boldest ambitions. Work across finance, pharmaceuticals, education, and physical AI—designing systems that power real-time trading, accelerate drug discovery, enable groundbreaking research, and fuel autonomous systems.

 

You'll translate complex customer requirements into elegant technical solutions, demonstrate capabilities through POCs and benchmarks, and serve as a trusted advisor throughout the sales cycle.

 

What You'll Do

Customer Engagement

  • Partner with customers to understand their critical data challenges—high-frequency trading, genomics processing, AI model training, or autonomous vehicle sensor fusion
  • Translate technical requirements into elegant, scalable storage solutions that exceed expectations
  • Act as trusted technical advisor throughout the sales cycle

Solution Design

  • Architect storage for AI/ML training, HPC simulations, data analytics, and GPU-accelerated workloads
  • Design for reliability, resilience, security, and scale—balancing performance with data protection
  • Create BOMs, system architectures, and technical proposals for complex RFPs
  • Conduct live demos, POCs, and performance benchmarking
  • Integrate with GPU clusters, Kubernetes, cloud platforms, and AI frameworks

Innovation & Growth

  • Stay current on AI infrastructure and storage technology trends
  • Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams using field insights
  • Mentor team members and contribute to technical thought leadership
  • Shape product direction based on customer needs

What You Bring

Technical Foundation (All Levels)

  • Strong understanding of storage and data architectures: SAN, NAS, object storage, parallel file systems
  • Knowledge of architectural patterns for reliability, resilience, security, and scale
  • Understanding of storage and data protocols: S3, POSIX, NFS, SMB
  • Familiarity with network protocols: TCP/IP, InfiniBand, RDMA
  • Curiosity about massively parallel technologies (Lustre, GPFS, Exascaler)
  • Aptitude for AI workloads and how storage enables AI innovation
  • Ability to communicate technical concepts to both engineers and executives

Entry Level (0-3 years)

  • Bachelor's in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
  • Exposure to storage/systems through coursework, internships, or projects
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
  • Customer-facing communication skills

Experienced (3+ years)

  • 3-8+ years in pre-sales, solutions architecture, or technical consulting
  • Proven track record designing storage/infrastructure solutions
  • Hands-on experience with enterprise storage systems
  • Experience with AI/ML infrastructure, HPC, or high-performance workloads (preferred)
  • Success managing complex technical sales cycles

What Sets You Apart

  • Genuine curiosity about AI and its impact across industries
  • Ownership mindset—you solve problems until they're solved
  • Ability to translate technical complexity into business value
  • Thrive in fast-evolving technology environments
  • Collaborative team player with integrity and empathy
DDN

DDN has a very strong orientation towards these 4 characteristics and any successful employee will demonstrate these capabilities: 

 

Self-Starter - Takes independent action to identify and solve problems. Seeks out relevant information needed to make decisions. Gets involved with new initiatives. 

Success/Achievement Orientation - Delivers quality results consistently. Targets, achieves (or exceeds) measurable results. Sets challenging goals, focuses on critical priorities, and is accountable. 

Problem Solving - Recognizes problems and responds with a systematic assessment that identifies and addresses cause of issue. Practical, realistic, and resourceful. 

Innovative - Builds and improves key business processes that enhance the effectiveness of DDN. Generates new ideas, challenges the status quo, and solves problems creatively.

 

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