Sr. Storage Engineer - NetApp

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.

At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.

We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.

The NetApp Intelligent Support SME is responsible for delivering, vendor-alternative support across NetApp storage platforms (AFF, FAS, E-Series, All SAN Array, ONTAP/ONTAP Select, StorageGRID). This role provides deep troubleshooting expertise, proactive risk management using tools like Active IQ, and end-to-end coordination of hardware RMAs to maintain high availability and performance in customer environments.

Key Responsibilities :
Incident & Problem Management

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Provide expert-level support for NetApp storage environments, including performance, capacity, data protection, and interoperability issues.

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Own NetApp incidents end-to-end from triage through resolution, including clear customer communication.

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Act as escalation point for Sev 1/2 storage incidents to rapidly restore service and protect critical business workloads.

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Perform root cause analysis for major storage incidents and implement corrective and preventive actions.

Hardware & RMA Coordination

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Lead and coordinate hardware replacement processes (RMAs, drive replacements, controllers, shelves) with NetApp and logistics partners.

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Manage end-to-end RMA lifecycle: identification, RMA creation, shipment tracking, onsite installation coordination, and post-replacement validation.

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Ensure accurate documentation of RMA activities, asset updates, and configuration changes within customer and internal systems.

Proactive Health, Capacity & Best Practice Reviews

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Use NetApp tools (e.g., Active IQ) to identify risks, configuration deviations, and performance/capacity issues.

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Conduct periodic environment health and best-practice reviews, presenting findings and remediation plans to customers.

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Recommend and support configuration optimizations, firmware/ONTAP upgrades, and data layout improvements.

Change & Upgrade Support

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Plan and support NetApp-related change windows (e.g., ONTAP upgrades, shelf additions, hardware refreshes).

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Create and review change plans, rollback procedures, and validation checklists for storage changes.

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Ensure changes are executed safely and documented thoroughly.

Customer & Cross-Vendor Collaboration

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Serve as a trusted technical advisor to customers on NetApp and storage-related architecture decisions.

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Collaborate with networking, virtualization, and backup teams to resolve multi-domain issues (e.g., VMware + NetApp, SAN fabric, backup tools).

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Coordinate with NetApp support as needed while maintaining AHEAD’s “single point of contact” for the customer.

Documentation & Continuous Improvement

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Develop and maintain runbooks, troubleshooting guides, and knowledge base articles for NetApp technologies.

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Identify opportunities to automate health checks, reporting, and common remediation tasks.

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Mentor and cross-train other engineers on NetApp storage technologies and best practices.

Required Skills & Experience:
Technical Expertise - Strong hands-on experience with:

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NetApp AFF and FAS platforms

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ONTAP/ONTAP Select (clustered architecture, SnapMirror/SnapVault, etc.)

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E-Series and/or All SAN Arrays (as applicable)

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Storage networking concepts (Fibre Channel, iSCSI, NFS, SMB)

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Performance tuning and capacity planning in storage environments

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Familiarity with Active IQ or similar analytics tools for storage health and risk analysis.

Experience

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8+ years in storage engineering/administration/support, ideally with a heavy NetApp focus.

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Experience supporting mission-critical, 24x7 enterprise environments.

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Background in incident, problem, and change management (ITIL desirable).

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Soft Skills

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Clear, concise communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

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Ability to manage multiple incidents and projects simultaneously.

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Strong sense of ownership and accountability for customer outcomes.

Education & Certifications (Preferred)

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Relevant NetApp certifications such as:

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NetApp Certified Data Administrator (NCDA)

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NetApp Certified Implementation Engineer (NCIE)

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Other storage/virtualization certifications (e.g., VMware, Cisco) are a plus.

Success Measures (Role-Level KPIs)

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Reduction in Sev 1 incident rate per NetApp array or environment.

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RMA cycle times (initiation to fully validated replacement) meeting or beating target.

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Active IQ risk remediation rates and decline in critical/high-risk findings over time.

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Storage environment health scores (capacity, performance, configuration compliance).

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Customer satisfaction (CSAT) for NetApp-related incidents and reviews.

Why AHEAD:

Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.

We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.

India Employment Benefits include:
Comprehensive health insurance coverage for employees, with options to extend coverage to dependents
Paid time off and company holidays, along with additional leave benefits as per policy
Flexible work arrangements, supporting work-life balance
Learning and development opportunities to support continuous growth and upskilling
Employee wellness initiatives and programs focused on physical and mental well-being
Retirement and statutory benefits in line with India regulations
Inclusive and people-first culture, with a strong focus on collaboration and ownership