Sr. Director of EcoSystems

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.

The Senior Director, Ecosystems is a senior technical and strategic leader responsible for defining, executing, and scaling the company's engineering engagement across key technology ecosystems, partners, and platforms. This role serves as the primary engineering owner for ecosystem alignment, ensuring seamless integration across platform infrastructure, networking, software, and data infrastructure components.

Reporting to the SVP of Engineering, this leader bridges core engineering, product management, solutions architecture, and external partners to drive platform readiness, joint roadmaps, and ecosystem validation for next-generation AI, high-performance systems, and data-intensive workloads.

Key Responsibilities

Ecosystem Strategy & Leadership

Own the end-to-end engineering strategy for alignment with strategic technology ecosystems and platform partners.
• Act as the senior engineering point of contact for technical counterparts at partner organizations, including roadmap planning and co-development initiatives.
• Define ecosystem readiness criteria to ensure timely enablement, certification, and general availability support.

Architecture & Platform Integration

• Guide system architecture decisions to ensure deep, performant integration across platform infrastructure, networking, storage, and software layers.
• Drive system-level design reviews with a focus on scalability, performance, reliability, and operational excellence.
• Ensure engineering designs align with industry standards, reference architectures, and ecosystem requirements.

Cross-Functional Execution

• Partner closely with Product Management to influence roadmap priorities based on ecosystem evolution and customer demand.
• Collaborate with Solutions Architecture, Field Engineering, and Customer Success to support strategic accounts, proofs of concept, and lighthouse deployments.
• Work with GTM and Marketing teams to enable technical messaging, solution validation, and reference architectures.

Technical Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and mentor senior engineers, architects, and technical leaders working on ecosystem-aligned initiatives.
• Establish best practices for platform integration, qualification, performance benchmarking, and validation.
• Scale engineering capabilities to support rapid innovation across AI, advanced systems, and high-performance data platforms.

External Representation & Influence

• Represent the company as a senior engineering leader in ecosystem forums, technical briefings, and industry events.
• Participate in early access programs, working groups, and joint technical initiatives with partners.
• Serve as a trusted technical advisor for customers and partners evaluating ecosystem-based solutions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field (advanced degree preferred).
• 15+ years of experience in systems engineering, platform engineering, or infrastructure software, with leadership experience at the Director or Senior Director level.
• Strong background in large-scale systems, AI infrastructure, or high-performance data platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to influence architecture and technical direction across multiple engineering teams.
• Proven success leading cross-functional, partner-facing technical initiatives.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage executive stakeholders and external partners.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with strategic technology partners or platform ecosystems.
• Hands-on background in systems architecture, performance-critical software, or infrastructure platforms.
• Familiarity with enterprise, hyperscale, or research computing environments.
• Experience supporting high-visibility customer engagements and partner-driven deployments.

Leadership Competencies

• Executive-level technical judgment and systems thinking
• Strong partner and ecosystem orientation
• Ability to operate strategically while remaining technically credible
• Influence without authority across global teams
• Bias toward execution, quality, and scalable outcomes

Join our dynamic and driven team, where engineering excellence is at the heart of everything we do. We seek individuals who love to challenge themselves and are fueled by curiosity. Here, you'll have the opportunity to work across various areas of the company, thanks to our flat organizational structure that encourages hands-on involvement and direct contributions to our mission. Leadership is earned by those who take initiative and consistently deliver outstanding results, both in their work ethic and deliverables, making strong prioritization skills essential. Additionally, we value strong communication skills in all our engineers and researchers, as they are crucial for the success of our teams and the company as a whole.

Interview Process: After submitting your application, one of our recruiters will review your resume. If your application passes this stage, you will be invited to a 30-minute interview during which a member of our team will ask some basic questions. If you clear the interview, you will enter the main process, which can consist of up to four interviews in total:

• Coding assessment: Often in a language of your choice.
• Systems design: Translate high-level requirements into a scalable, fault-tolerant service (depending on role).
• Real-time problem-solving: Demonstrate practical skills in a live problem-solving session.
• Meet and greet with the wider team.
• Our goal is to finish the main process in 2-3 weeks at most.

DataDirect Networks (DDN) 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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