Principal Software Engineer (AI)

At NetApp, our High Achievement Principles shape how we work: we innovate to elevate, drive results, and excel as a team. 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.

• *Success profile**
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Ready to be an engineer at NetApp? Explore the traits that can help you thrive.

• Analytical
• Adaptable
• Communicator
• Detail\-oriented
• Quick\-thinking
• Problem solver

• *Responsibilities**
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Bengaluru, Karnataka, India **Job category:** Engineering **Job ID:** 136924\-en\_US

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

• *Job Summary**
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NetApp is building intelligent data infrastructure to help customers make their data **AI\-ready**. The AI Business Unit is creating **AI Data Services**, connecting enterprise data with analytics and AI agents. As a **Principal Engineer**, you’ll help architect and shape this new platform from the ground up. You’ll lead complex technical initiatives across **storage, data, and AI** while remaining a hands\-on individual contributor. It’s a unique opportunity to solve challenging data infrastructure problems and influence the future of **AI at NetApp**.

• *Job Requirements**
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• *Key Responsibilities**

• Serve as the architectural north star for the system, resolving the hardest design, performance, and scaling problems as the team turns customer data into something analytically useful for people and AI agents.
• Design and tech\-lead complex, cross\-team initiatives, setting technical direction for products at the intersection of storage, data, and AI.
• Drive high\-leverage technical decisions on data architecture, including technology choices, data modeling, and system scalability and reliability, across both on\-premises and cloud deployments.

• *Required Qualifications**

• 10\+ years of hands\-on software engineering experience, including technical lead or primary design owner experience on distributed systems, data platforms.
• Deep hands\-on experience in Python, Java, or a comparable modern language, building production\-grade data pipelines and services.
• Hands\-on experience with agentic AI engineering, or AI/agent\-facing infrastructure such as retrieval, search, or tool\-access protocols for AI applications.
• Strong understanding of modern data platform architectures, including data lakes, table formats, and Iceberg\-based (or comparable) catalog systems.
• Exposure to large\-scale distributed systems, including streaming or event\-driven architectures.
• Hands\-on experience with cloud\-native architectures, and familiarity with on\-premises infrastructure and storage systems.
• Experience with distributed query engines and SQL\-based data access patterns.
• Demonstrated ability to drive technical decisions and influence direction across multiple engineering teams without relying on formal management authority.
• *Education**
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Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field required. Equivalent practical experience will be considered in lieu of formal education.

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. Apply 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.