Principal Storage Engineer

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Principal Storage Engineer to serve as a technical leader responsible for the design, engineering, automation, reliability, and lifecycle management of enterprise storage platforms. This role provides technical leadership across SAN, NAS, storage networking, storage fabrics, backup and recovery, performance engineering, and infrastructure modernization initiatives.

The ideal candidate possesses deep expertise in enterprise storage technologies, Fiber Channel SAN architectures, NAS platforms, storage networking, and large-scale infrastructure operations. This individual will drive architectural decisions, establish engineering standards, mentor senior engineers, and lead strategic initiatives that enhance availability, scalability, resiliency, security, and operational efficiency across the storage ecosystem.

What We Do

Our Infrastructure Engineering organization designs, builds, operates, and modernizes highly available storage platforms that support mission-critical business applications and cloud services. Our environment includes:

• Enterprise SAN and Fiber Channel fabrics

• NAS storage platforms

• Block and file storage solutions

• Storage networking and multipathing

• Data protection and disaster recovery solutions

• Storage performance and capacity engineering

• Infrastructure automation and observability

• Hybrid cloud storage integrations

The team partners closely with Platform Engineering, Cloud Infrastructure, Network Engineering, Security, Operations, and Application Development organizations to ensure reliable and scalable storage services.

What You'll Do

Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Lead the design and strategic direction of enterprise storage platforms and services.

• Define architecture standards, engineering patterns, and operational best practices.

• Evaluate emerging storage technologies and recommend modernization strategies.

• Serve as the highest-level technical escalation point for complex storage issues.

• Drive storage transformation initiatives across on-premises and hybrid cloud environments.

SAN & Storage Fabric Engineering

• Design, implement, and support large-scale Fiber Channel SAN infrastructures.

• Engineer highly available storage fabric architectures with redundant paths and fault-tolerant designs.

• Manage SAN zoning, host connectivity, multipathing configurations, and fabric optimization.

• Lead storage migrations, technology refreshes, and lifecycle management initiatives.

• Ensure storage platforms meet enterprise performance and resiliency requirements.

NAS & File Services

• Design and support enterprise NAS solutions supporting NFS, SMB, and file-based workloads.

• Define storage allocation, data lifecycle management, and tiering strategies.

• Optimize file service performance, availability, and scalability.

• Develop standards for enterprise file storage consumption and operational support.

Storage Networking

• Collaborate with network engineering teams on storage transport design and connectivity.

• Optimize storage network performance, throughput, and latency.

• Troubleshoot complex storage-to-host communication issues.

• Define standards for storage network security, segmentation, and resiliency.

Storage Performance Engineering

• Analyze IOPS, latency, throughput, and workload characteristics across enterprise environments.

• Conduct proactive performance assessments and capacity modeling.

• Identify bottlenecks and implement remediation strategies.

• Drive performance benchmarking and optimization efforts.

• Establish monitoring dashboards, KPIs, and service health metrics.

Automation & Infrastructure as Code

• Develop automation solutions for storage provisioning, reporting, monitoring, and lifecycle management.

• Leverage APIs, scripting, and infrastructure automation frameworks to reduce manual operations.

• Standardize operational processes through automation and self-service capabilities.

• Drive continuous improvement across engineering and operational workflows.

Reliability, Availability & Recovery

• Design disaster recovery and business continuity strategies for storage platforms.

• Lead recovery testing, failover exercises, and resiliency assessments.

• Ensure backup, replication, and data protection capabilities meet business requirements.

• Participate in major incident response and root cause analysis activities.

Governance & Security

• Ensure compliance with enterprise security, audit, and regulatory requirements.

• Collaborate with cybersecurity teams on storage hardening initiatives.

• Define access control models and secure data storage practices.

• Support risk assessments and remediation planning.

Mentorship & Leadership

• Mentor senior engineers and technical leads.

• Provide architectural guidance across infrastructure and platform organizations.

• Lead design reviews, technical forums, and engineering governance efforts.

• Influence long-term technology roadmaps and strategic investments.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related discipline, or equivalent experience.

• 12+ years of experience managing enterprise storage environments.

• 5+ years in a senior architect, principal engineer, or technical leadership role.

• Deep expertise with enterprise SAN technologies and Fiber Channel architectures.

• Extensive experience with NAS platforms and file services.

• Strong understanding of storage networking concepts, switches, fabrics, and connectivity.

• Expertise in performance tuning, troubleshooting, and capacity management.

• Experience supporting mission-critical production environments requiring high availability.

• Strong scripting and automation experience using Python, PowerShell, Bash, Ansible, or similar tools.

• Experience leading complex infrastructure modernization and migration projects.

• Strong analytical, communication, and leadership skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with HPE Primera, Alletra, NetApp, Dell PowerScale/Isilon, Pure Storage, or equivalent enterprise platforms.

• Experience with Brocade and Cisco SAN fabrics.

• Knowledge of cloud storage services in Azure, AWS, or GCP.

• Experience with Kubernetes persistent storage architectures and CSI integrations.

• Familiarity with disaster recovery, replication, backup, and business continuity solutions.

• Experience implementing Infrastructure as Code and platform automation frameworks.

• Storage industry certifications (NetApp, HPE, Dell EMC, Cisco, Brocade, SNIA, etc.).

• Experience operating storage platforms supporting large-scale private cloud or virtualized infrastructure environments.

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic thinker with strong business and technical acumen.

• Exceptional problem-solving and troubleshooting abilities.

• Ability to influence decisions across organizational boundaries.

• Strong executive communication and presentation skills.

• Proven ability to lead through complex technical transformations.

• Demonstrated commitment to operational excellence and continuous improvement.

This position requires office presence of a minimum of 5 days per week and is only located in the location(s) posted. No relocation is offered.

AT&T will not hire any applicants for this position who require employer sponsorship now or in the future.

Our Principal System Engineering jobs earn between $155,400.00 - $261,100.00 USD Annual. Not to mention all the other amazing rewards that working at AT&T offers. Individual starting salary within this range may depend on geography, experience, expertise, and education/training.

Joining our team comes with amazing perks and benefits:

• Medical/Dental/Vision coverage

• 401(k) plan

• Tuition reimbursement program

• Paid Time Off and Holidays (based on date of hire, at least 23 days of vacation each year and 9 company-designated holidays)

• Paid Parental Leave

• Paid Caregiver Leave

• Additional sick leave beyond what state and local law require may be available but is unprotected

• Adoption Reimbursement

• Disability Benefits (short term and long term)

• Life and Accidental Death Insurance

• Supplemental benefit programs: critical illness/accident hospital indemnity/group legal

• Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

• Extensive employee wellness programs

• Employee discounts up to 50% off on eligible AT&T mobility plans and accessories, AT&T internet (and fiber where available) and AT&T phone

Weekly Hours: 40

Time Type: Regular

Location: Alpharetta, Georgia, Bothell, Washington, Dallas, Texas, Plano, Texas, USA:GA:Atlanta / 1057 Lenox Park Blvd Ne - Adm:1057 Lenox Park Blvd Ne

Salary Range: $155,400.00 - $261,100.00

AT&T and its subsidiaries are committed to equal employment opportunity. All hiring, promotion, and other employment decisions remain merit-based and free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical disability, mental disability, pregnancy, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. In addition, AT&T will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. AT&T is a fair chance employer and does not initiate a background check until an offer is made. Click here to learn more or request an application accommodation here.