Sr/Staff Lustre Engineer

Data Direct Networks

$150K — $180K *
US-AnywhereRemote in California, US
Information Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 7+ years of hands-on experience in Lustre software development
  • Proven contributions to the Lustre codebase in production or open-source environments
  • Demonstrated success in designing and implementing Lustre features for major releases
  • Deep understanding of Lustre internals, particularly MDS/OSS architecture and various subsystems
  • Expert-level proficiency in C programming and strong Linux kernel development experience
  • Strong knowledge of distributed systems and high-performance I/O
  • Experience with Lustre-specific development and debugging tools
  • Proficient in Python and/or Bash for automation tasks
  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

  • Contribute to Lustre architecture and implement new features across core subsystems
  • Write high-performance, production-grade code for the Lustre kernel and user-space utilities
  • Own the full development lifecycle for major features, including testing and upstream patch submission
  • Enhance scalability for multi-petabyte Lustre environments
  • Modernize Lustre internals with API updates and improvements
  • Prototype and evaluate emerging technologies for potential Lustre integration
  • Strengthen regression and performance validation using various testing tools
  • Conduct deep code-level performance analysis with Lustre tracing tools and profilers
  • Collaborate with engineers and stakeholders to translate workload needs into practical enhancements
  • Mentor other developers and produce design documentation.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work on cutting-edge high-performance computing and storage systems
  • Engagement in significant architectural and kernel-level contributions
  • Collaboration with leading professionals in distributed systems and file storage
  • Potential for involvement in emerging technology assessments and prototypes
  • A chance to make lasting impacts on a widely used open-source project.
Full 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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