Data Center Architecture Lead - AI Storage Infrastructure

Sandisk understands how people and businesses consume data and we relentlessly innovate to deliver solutions that enable today’s needs and tomorrow’s next big ideas. With a rich history of groundbreaking innovations in Flash and advanced memory technologies, our solutions have become the beating heart of the digital world we’re living in and that we have the power to shape.

Sandisk meets people and businesses at the intersection of their aspirations and the moment, enabling them to keep moving and pushing possibility forward. We do this through the balance of our powerhouse manufacturing capabilities and our industry-leading portfolio of products that are recognized globally for innovation, performance and quality.

Sandisk has two facilities recognized by the World Economic Forum as part of the Global Lighthouse Network for advanced 4IR innovations. These facilities were also recognized as Sustainability Lighthouses for breakthroughs in efficient operations. With our global reach, we ensure the global supply chain has access to the Flash memory it needs to keep our world moving forward.

Description

Job Description We are building the next generation of storage architecture for AI infrastructure, combining high-performance flash, accelerator technologies, and advanced storage software to deliver step-function improvements in cost, power efficiency, density, and scalability for AI-era data centers. This work spans a portfolio of forward-looking R&D initiatives, from converged AI storage platforms to computational storage, memory tiering and expansion, DPU-native storage nodes, and next-generation object and checkpoint tiers. We are seeking a Data Center Architecture Lead to look across these initiatives holistically, set a coherent long-term architecture direction, and drive the most promising ones from concept to defensible system design. This is a senior, cross-initiative role. It will shape SanDisk's long-term architecture strategy for AI-scale storage infrastructure and help grow system-level architecture depth across the organization. Responsibilities: Portfolio and strategy

• Own a holistic architecture view across multiple data-center storage R&D initiatives, ensuring they align to a common long-term direction rather than evolving in isolation
• Identify where initiatives share building blocks (flash, controllers, DPUs, storage software, fabrics) and drive reuse and convergence across them
• Evaluate and prioritize opportunities on technical merit, differentiation, and fit with SanDisk strengths; recommend which to advance, reshape, or retire
• Lead the architecture of flagship programs end to end, including our Hive converged AI storage platform, as representative of the broader portfolio System architecture
• Define system deployment models within large-scale AI infrastructure, including hyperscaler and cloud-scale environments
• Analyze AI training and inference infrastructure, including disaggregated storage and large-scale storage fabrics
• Define system data flows and metadata flows; identify architectural bottlenecks and scalability limits
• Architect storage rack and tray topology across deployment models
• Define storage node architecture, including SoC/DPU selection, PCIe/NVMe topology, DRAM architecture, and NIC integration
• Drive HW/FW/SW partitioning decisions across each platform
• Define the architectural placement of RAID, compression, erasure coding, and data services Analysis and modeling
• Perform system-level bottleneck analysis and scalability modeling across node, rack, and multi-node deployments
• Own system-level power, performance, bandwidth, and latency analysis and the models that support architecture decisions Collaboration and influence
• Partner with internal architecture, ASIC, firmware, and software teams to drive architectural alignment across initiatives
• Engage with customers, ecosystem partners, hyperscalers, and technology vendors to understand deployment requirements and influence architecture direction
• Contribute to SanDisk's broader data-center infrastructure architecture strategy and technical leadership, and help mentor system-level architecture talent Qualifications Required:
• 10+ years of experience in data-center infrastructure, storage systems, or large-scale system architecture
• Strong background in storage system architecture for cloud, hyperscaler, or AI infrastructure environments
• Experience designing end-to-end architectures spanning hardware, firmware, and software
• Deep understanding of modern data-center infrastructure, including compute, networking, storage, and accelerator integration
• Strong expertise in performance analysis, bottleneck identification, and large-scale system optimization
• Experience with high-speed networking and modern NIC/DPU architectures
• Strong understanding of PCIe, NVMe, memory hierarchy, and storage subsystem architecture
• Ability to work cross-functionally across architecture, ASIC, firmware, and software organizations
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to present architectural concepts clearly to technical and executive audiences Preferred:
• Experience with scale-out storage architectures and distributed storage systems
• Experience with flash storage systems, RAID, erasure coding, and storage data services
• Experience with file systems, storage software stacks, or parallel file systems
• Experience with disaggregated storage architectures
• Background in hyperscaler infrastructure, AI infrastructure, or startup environments
• Experience bringing complex systems from architectural concept through production deployment
  
  

Additional Information

Sandisk thrives on the power and potential of diversity. As a global company, we believe the most effective way to embrace the diversity of our customers and communities is to mirror it from within. We believe the fusion of various perspectives results in the best outcomes for our employees, our company, our customers, and the world around us. We are committed to an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive through a sense of belonging, respect and contribution.

Sandisk is committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can successfully navigate our careers website and our hiring process. Please contact us at [email protected] to advise us of your accommodation request. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.