Senior Director of Quality Engineering - Infinia

Overview:

This is an incredible opportunity to be part of a company that has been at the forefront of AI and high-performance data storage innovation for over two decades. DataDirect Networks (DDN) is a global market leader renowned for powering many of the world's most demanding AI data centers, in industries ranging from life sciences and healthcare to financial services, autonomous cars, Government, academia, research and manufacturing.

"DDN's A3I solutions are transforming the landscape of AI infrastructure." – IDC 

“The real differentiator is DDN. I never hesitate to recommend DDN. DDN is the de facto name for AI Storage in high performance environments” - Marc Hamilton, VP, Solutions Architecture & Engineering | NVIDIA 

DDN is the global leader in AI and multi-cloud data management at scale. Our cutting-edge data intelligence platform is designed to accelerate AI workloads, enabling organizations to extract maximum value from their data. With a proven track record of performance, reliability, and scalability, DDN empowers businesses to tackle the most challenging AI and data-intensive workloads with confidence. 

Our success is driven by our unwavering commitment to innovation, customer-centricity, and a team of passionate professionals who bring their expertise and dedication to every project. This is a chance to make a significant impact at a company that is shaping the future of AI and data management. 

Our commitment to innovation, customer success, and market leadership makes this an exciting and rewarding role for a driven professional looking to make a lasting impact in the world of AI and data storage. 

As the Sr. Director of Quality Engineering - Infinia at DDN, you will be responsible for driving the strategy, execution, and continuous improvement of the highest-performing, scalable storage solution for AI and big data. You will oversee critical areas of engineering: Release Quality Engineering, System Quality Engineering, and Quality & Productivity Analytics. You will lead a team focused on delivering high-quality products that exceeds customer expectations by establishing cutting-edge testing tools, processes, and metrics. This role requires strong leadership, technical expertise, and close collaboration with product development, engineering, and customer support teams.

Key Responsibilities:

Release Quality Engineering:

• Set the standard for testing practices in the organization and define tools, automation frameworks, and processes to ensure high-quality releases that exceed customer expectations.
• Develop and implement best practices for automated and manual testing across various stages of product development.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define and enforce quality criteria for product releases.
• Continuously improve testing coverage, speed, and accuracy through automation and advanced tools.

System Quality Engineering:

• Define the infrastructure and processes to test releases using customer workflows and environments.
• Work closely with Customer Support and Field teams to gather insights into customer needs and pain points, ensuring these are addressed in testing strategies.
• Build and manage a team of quality engineers dedicated to system testing, ensuring the integration of customer feedback into the automation platform.
• Maintain and enhance the system-level test bed, ensuring it simulates real-world customer environments accurately at scale.

Quality & Productivity Analytics:

• Define and implement key metrics to measure product quality, engineering productivity, and code quality across the organization.
• Develop real-time dashboards that provide visibility into quality metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) for engineering and product teams.
• Continuously monitor and optimize testing and development processes using data-driven insights to ensure operational excellence.
• Establish feedback loops and reporting mechanisms to track improvements and identify areas for future growth.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in software quality validation within file systems, large storage architectures or HPC distributed systems.
• Strong grasp and experience in SW test design, execution, automation and metrics.
• Strong knowledge in software and scripting in Python, particularly for Linux/UNIX computing environments.
• Strong knowledge in software automation testing architectures and their implementations in CICD pipelines.
• Experiences must include some of the following: traditional storage protocols (e.g. CIFS/NFS/iSCSI), work with data storage concepts such as RAID, SCSI, FC, and file systems; designing, developing, executing, and maintaining test cases and procedures; applying QA lifecycle methodologies for white box, black box, functional, combinatorial testing.
• Strong technical background with hands-on experience in testing automation, tools development, and release management.
• Familiarity with customer workflow-based testing, system testing, and real-time analytic platforms.
• Expertise in defining and tracking metrics for product quality, engineering efficiency, and code quality.
• Exceptional leadership and communication skills with a track record of successfully working across multiple teams and departments.
• BS/MS/Ph.D in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Statistics, Mathematics or equivalent degree/experience.

Preferred Skills:

• Expertise in continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) frameworks.
• Strong understanding of testing resilience of large-scale distributed systems with Chaos Mesh, Chaos Monkey, LitmusChaos or similar frameworks.
• Familiarity with customer support and field engineering environments, and experience integrating customer feedback into testing processes.

Our team is highly motivated and focused on engineering excellence.

We look for individuals who appreciate challenging themselves and thrive on curiosity.

Engineers are encouraged to work across multiple areas of the company.

We operate with a flat organizational structure.

All employees are expected to be hands-on and to contribute directly to the company’s mission.

Leadership is given to those who show initiative and consistently deliver excellence. Work ethic and strong prioritization skills are important.

All engineers and researchers are expected to have strong communication skills.

They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates.

Interview Process: After submitting your application, the team reviews your CV and statement of exceptional work. If your application passes this stage, you will be invited to a 30-minute interview (“phone interview”) during which a member of our team will ask some basic questions. If you clear the initial phone interview, you will enter the main process, which consists of four technical interviews:

• Coding assessment in a language of your choice.
• Systems design: Translate high-level requirements into a scalable, fault-tolerant service.
• Systems hands-on: Demonstrate practical skills in a live problem-solving session.
• Project deep-dive: Present your past exceptional work to a small audience.
• Meet and greet with the wider team.
• Our goal is to finish the main process within one week.
• We don’t rely on recruiters for assessments.
• Every application is reviewed by a member of our technical team.

DataDirect Networks, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender, sex stereotyping, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

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