Automation Architect – Quality Engineering

Overview

Automation Architect – Quality Engineering at DDN (Data Direct Networks). This role is for hands-on, innovative engineers focused on quality engineering for a distributed storage platform. You will design automation as a self-service platform for engineering, write world-class code, and pioneer new approaches to testing using AI/ML and chaos engineering. You will drive tooling that accelerates test execution and removes friction across environments, with a focus on solving real problems and making engineering teams faster and smarter.

DDN is a global leader in AI and multi-cloud data management at scale, powering AI data centers across industries. This position offers an opportunity to impact how AI and data storage are tested and validated at scale.

• Architect & Own:
  Take full ownership of the pytest-based automation framework, guiding its architecture and evolution to set the new standard for quality.
• Create Reusable Tools:
  Develop robust Python libraries and pytest fixtures to streamline testing across APIs, CLIs, and complex workload orchestration scenarios.
• Build Automation as a Service:
  Design the framework as a self-service platform, creating a paved road for developers to write, run, and contribute automation for their features.
• Drive Adoption:
  Produce clear documentation, examples, and onboarding paths to evangelize automation best practices across the engineering organization.
• Pioneer AI-Driven Testing:
  Research and implement modern testing strategies using lightweight AI/ML techniques to create intelligent and realistic workloads for cluster, storage, and QoS validation.
• Uphold Code & Product Quality:
  Lead code reviews for all automation submissions to maintain high standards of quality and maintainability.
• Test for Scale and Resilience:
  Architect automation that validates distributed system behaviors, including clustering, service failover, and horizontal scaling.
• Champion Resilience & Chaos Engineering:
  Extend automation to embrace chaos engineering principles, proactively discovering systemic weaknesses.
• Integrate Performance Testing:
  Integrate performance and stress testing into CI/CD pipelines using tools like fio, IOR, Minio Warp, Mongoose, and MLPerf to validate throughput and latency under pressure.
• Scale with Modern Infrastructure:
  Design automation that runs efficiently across Kubernetes, Docker, hypervisors, and bare-metal systems, ensuring scalable test execution.
• Drive Telemetry-Driven Quality:
  Integrate test results with observability stacks (Grafana, Prometheus, ELK) to validate quality using rich telemetry.
• Mentor & Lead:
  Act as a technical leader and mentor for QE and Development engineers worldwide, elevating skills in Python, pytest, and modern automation design patterns.

• Technical
  
  Skills:
  
  Expert-level Python with pytest (fixtures, plugins, parametrization), asyncio, and building scalable frameworks.
• Distributed Systems:
  Clustering, fault tolerance, horizontal scaling; experience with machine orchestration preferred.
• Linux & Storage Systems:
  Linux (Ubuntu/RHEL) experience; storage protocols such as S3/Object, NVMe/iSCSI, NFS/SMB.
• Performance & Orchestration:
  Integrate performance tools (fio, IOR, Minio Warp) and orchestrate tests in Docker and Kubernetes.
• CI/CD Expertise:
  Experience with Jenkins or Git Hub Actions for automation pipelines.
• Observability:
  Experience with Grafana, Prometheus, or ELK Stack to analyze results.
• AI/ML for QA (Preferred):
  Data science or ML techniques for testing; familiarity with Pandas, Num Py, Sci Py, scikit-learn is a plus.
• Scripting:
  Proficiency in Bash;
  Go or C++ experience is a bonus.

• A Builder's Mindset:
  Write and own code, not just configure off-the-shelf tools.
• A Passion for Enablement:
  Build intuitive and powerful tools that help engineers succeed.
• Commitment to Quality:
  Emphasize rigorous code reviews for robust automation and knowledge sharing.
• Strategic Thinker:
  Design high-level automation strategy while solving deep technical challenges.
• Natural Mentor:
  Enjoy teaching others and helping colleagues grow.
• Excellent Communicator:
  Clearly articulate complex ideas to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Data Direct Networks, Inc. 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.

• Seniority level:
  Mid-Senior level
• Employment type:
  
  Full-time
• Job function:
  Engineering and Information Technology
• Industries:
  Software Development

Location:

Gloucester, England, United Kingdom