Advisory Sales Engineer - Strategic AI

DataDirect Networks (DDN) is a global market leader in AI and high-performance data storage solutions. As an Advisory Sales Engineer, you will architect storage solutions for AI workloads, engage with customers to understand their data challenges, and serve as a trusted advisor throughout the sales cycle.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with customers to understand their critical data challenges—high-frequency trading, genomics processing, AI model training, or autonomous vehicle sensor fusion
• Translate technical requirements into elegant, scalable storage solutions that exceed expectations
• Act as trusted technical advisor throughout the sales cycle
• Architect storage for AI/ML training, HPC simulations, data analytics, and GPU-accelerated workloads
• Design for reliability, resilience, security, and scale—balancing performance with data protection
• Create BOMs, system architectures, and technical proposals for complex RFPs
• Conduct live demos, POCs, and performance benchmarking
• Integrate with GPU clusters, Kubernetes, cloud platforms, and AI frameworks
• Stay current on AI infrastructure and storage technology trends
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams using field insights
• Mentor team members and contribute to technical thought leadership
• Shape product direction based on customer needs

Requirements:

• Strong understanding of storage and data architectures: SAN, NAS, object storage, parallel file systems
• Knowledge of architectural patterns for reliability, resilience, security, and scale
• Understanding of storage and data protocols: S3, POSIX, NFS, SMB
• Familiarity with network protocols: TCP/IP, InfiniBand, RDMA
• Curiosity about massively parallel technologies (Lustre, GPFS, Exascaler)
• Aptitude for AI workloads and how storage enables AI innovation
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to both engineers and executives
• Bachelor's in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• Exposure to storage/systems through coursework, internships, or projects
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Customer-facing communication skills
• 3-8+ years in pre-sales, solutions architecture, or technical consulting
• Proven track record designing storage/infrastructure solutions
• Hands-on experience with enterprise storage systems
• Success managing complex technical sales cycles
• Experience with AI/ML infrastructure, HPC, or high-performance workloads