DDN - System Engineer - Distributed Systems

Job Summary :

DDN is seeking a Staff Build Systems Engineer to own the build, packaging, and developer build infrastructure for Infinia Software Defined Storage (SDS).

The role ensures fast, reproducible builds across C/C++, Go, and web UI components and delivers reliable container and Linux package artifacts.

You will support a large, distributed engineering organization working across multiple repositories, maintaining and evolving a complex multi-repo build ecosystem powered by GitHub Actions and internal runners.

Why Join Us :

This role combines systems software, developer productivity, and product delivery.

You will own a complex multi-component build ecosystem and modernize it without disrupting active development or releases.

- End-to-End Ownership: Own and evolve build workflows from source checkout through compilation, packaging, publication, and installation validation.

- Define and modernize build architecture while maintaining and improving existing systems to ensure reliability and scalability.

- Build Modernization: Introduce maintainable, scalable build technology while preserving existing product capabilities.

- Developer Productivity: Reduce build times, improve diagnostics, and ensure consistency across developer and CI environments.

- Own and enhance local developer tooling, including build scripts and containerized dev environments.

- Lead CI/CD design and maintenance in collaboration with DevOps where needed, and drive release automation and artifact promotion workflows to streamline delivery.

Core Responsibilities :

- Own the technical direction and operational reliability of the product build ecosystem in partnership with Development, QA, Release, and DevOps.

- Build Systems and Toolchains: Own C/C++, Go, and npm build workflows, including compilers, linkers, flags, dependencies, and configuration.

- Reproducible Environments: Standardize containerized and host build environments and maintain local, CI, and release branch consistency.

- Internal Build Automation: Maintain orchestration utilities for component builds, full-product builds, packaging, and deployment preparation.

- Failure Diagnosis: Resolve compiler, linker, dependency, packaging, platform, and developer-versus-CI issues.

- Artifacts and Packaging: Produce versioned container images and Debian/RPM packages; validate dependencies, installation, upgrades, and rollback.

- CI and Artifact Repositories: Integrate builds with CI platforms and repositories such as Nexus, JFrog Artifactory, Harbor, or Quay.

- Build Performance: Improve clean and incremental build times through caching, parallelism, dependency tracking, and measurement.

What You'll Work On :

- Build-System Modernization: Inventory SCons logic and evaluate CMake, Meson/Ninja, Bazel, and other suitable alternatives.

- Prototyping and Migration: Benchmark alternatives and deliver staged migration with compatibility, validation, and rollback plans.

- Multi-Platform Delivery: Support multiple processor architectures, Linux distributions, build variants, and release branches.

- Technical Leadership: Write designs, set standards, review changes, mentor engineers, and drive cross-team decisions.

Required Skills :

- Experience: 8+ years in software, build engineering, developer infrastructure, or a closely related field.

- C/C++ Builds: Strong Linux compilation and linking knowledge with GCC/Clang and SCons, Make, CMake, Meson, Ninja, or Bazel.

- Automation: Strong Python and Bash skills for maintainable build tooling and diagnostics.

- Other Ecosystems: Practical experience with Go build tooling and Node.js/npm workflows.

- Containers: Experience with Docker-based build environments and multi-stage images.

- Linux Packaging: Hands-on Debian and RPM packaging, dependency management, versioning, installation, upgrades, and publication.

- CI/CD: Build-system integration with GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, or equivalent platforms and artifact repositories.

- Collaboration: Strong troubleshooting, documentation, communication, ownership, and cross-team technical Skills :

- Build Acceleration: ccache, sccache, distributed builds, remote execution, or comparable optimization technologies.

- Secure Builds: Hermetic builds, dependency pinning, provenance, SBOMs, signing, or software supply chain security.

- Migration Experience: Migration from a legacy build system to CMake, Meson/Ninja, Bazel, or a comparable platform.

- Systems Software: Storage, networking, operating system, compiler, or other performance-critical software.

- Developer Productivity: Build-health metrics, engineering standards, documentation, and self-service developer workflows.

(ref:hirist.tech)