--- title: Principal Solution Architect at Ddn in Santa Clara, CA description: Ddn is hiring for the Principal Solution Architect role in Santa Clara, CA. Pays $300K–$330K per year. See the full description and apply. type: job url: https://www.foundrole.com/jobs/principal-solution-architect-at-ddn-01a11273-dc6e-7a12-a0ce-f2dd22249213 date: 2026-11-15T01:26:44Z og_description: Join Ddn as Principal Solution Architect in Santa Clara, CA. Pays $300K–$330K per year. Full-time, hybrid role. og_image: https://www.foundrole.com/og/jhpq3u.png breadcrumbs: - label: Home url: https://www.foundrole.com/ - label: Search url: https://www.foundrole.com/jobs --- | | | |---|---| | **Company** | Ddn | | **Location** | Santa Clara, CA (Hybrid) | | **Salary** | $300K/yr - $330K/yr | | **Type** | Full Time | | **Posted** | Oct 06, 2026 | ## Is this job real? **Ghost job check:** B · Low risk. Probably a real opening. ## Visa sponsorship - **H-1B:** Ddn sponsors H-1B visas. It filed 27 H-1B petitions (FY2026 Q1 – FY2026 Q4). - **E-Verify:** No E-Verify enrollment on record for Ddn. ## Pay for similar jobs Most similar jobs pay $171,000 – $230,000 a year (median $209,000). ## Description The Principal AI Solutions Architect at DataDirect Networks (DDN) combines technical mastery with outcome driven strategic selling/consulting delivering high-performance AI, ML, and HPC solutions. This role is pivotal in aligning DDN’s cutting-edge AI solutions and data management technologies with clients’ business needs, driving measurable outcomes to include efficiencies, optimizations, utilization, reduced latency, and accelerated time-to-insight. The ideal candidate will bring pre-sales engineering experience, AI technical expertise and intelligence, and a passion for delivering tailored solutions that enable customer success. **Core Responsibilities:** - AI Intelligence: Demonstrate expertise in AI technologies, including architecture, deployment, optimization, and integration, with a focus on delivering measurable outcomes - Outcome-Driven Approach, Positioning and Consultation: Engage deeply with clients to understand their AI and data challenges & performance goals, recommending DDN’s AI & high-performance solutions to achieve desired business outcomes, whether it’s accelerated time-to-insight or operational efficiency. - Value-Centric Solution Design: Partner with clients to architect and deliver AI-driven data solutions that prioritize long-term value, scalability, and performance optimization. Leverage DDN’s expertise in AI, HPC, and cloud storage to address current requirements while enabling future growth and innovation. - Active Selling Partner: As a proactive part of the sales process, the AI Solutions Consultant is a Sales Engineering role which actively engages in client discussions, delivers compelling product demonstrations, and contributes to closing deals by demonstrating the business value and ROI of DDN’s solutions. - Pre-Sales Customer Development: Providing hands-on technical presentations, demonstrations, proof-of-concept support and management, and ongoing client management and support to ensure successful adoption, usage, and maximized business impact from DDN technologies. **Primary Responsibilities** - Outcome-Driven: Leverage experience in AI, Data & Analytics to engage deeply with clients, understanding their challenges and delivering value-driven solutions. - Data Architecture Proficiency: Design scalable solutions and implement strategies for effective data models and management to support AI/ML workflows. - Generative AI Enablement: Apply knowledge & expertise in AI technologies, including Large Language Models (LLMs), neural networks, RAG, Inference, and recommendation systems, to drive innovation and client success. - Technical Solution Design: Utilize frameworks like NeMO, NIMs, TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Nvidia Enterprise Suite to craft and demonstrate DDNs advanced AI solutions tailored to client needs. - Cross-Functional Collaboration: You are a partner with between Sales, Product, Marketing and Engineering teams, ensuring customer insights inform messaging, collateral, product development, support/services and technical strategies. - Partner Ecosystem Development: Build and maintain relationships across our ecosystem of Alliances, OEMs, CSPs, hyper-scalers, channel and integrators to create joint go-to-market strategies and expand DDN’s market reach. - Enablement and Training: Deliver technical development for internal teams and partners, ensuring a deep understanding of DDN’s AI solutions. - Market Awareness: Stay abreast of trends in AI, data management, and competitive landscapes to position DDN’s solutions effectively. **Key Practices:** - Consultative Engagement: Demonstrate the ability to understand client needs, outcomes and deliver tailored solutions through effective discovery processes and relationship building. - AI Expertise: Showcase knowledge of AI workflows, frameworks, pipelines to include above the stack applications, Data Prep/Analytics, Toolkits, Training, Inference, Application Frameworks, NVIDIA Enterprise suite, LLMs, RAG, and related technologies, aligning solutions to business outcomes and emerging AI trends. - Data Architecture Leadership: Provide insights and designs for data strategies that support efficiency, scalability, performance, and ROI. - Technical Depth: AI Intelligence and knowledge of AI Pipelines, Applications, Frameworks, Workflows, LLMs, RAG, Inference, GENAI, ChatBots and advanced tools/frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and NVIDIA Enterprise Suite. - Client Delight Focus: Build enduring client relationships and ensure successful adoption of DDN solutions, with measurable outcomes. - Strategic Collaboration: Partner with internal and external stakeholders to align technical capabilities with business objectives and outcomes. **Required Qualifications** - 8+ years of experience in AI/ML infrastructure, data engineering, or consulting for AI projects and/or AI/ML and/or Data Science application development practices and architectures. - Demonstratable expertise in generative AI technologies, including LLMs, neural networks, and recommendation systems. - Familiarity with AI frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, NVIDIA Enterprise Suite, NeMO, NIMs etc. - Proven track record of delivering technical wins in complex sales or consulting environments. - Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage technical and executive audiences. - Certifications in AI and cloud architectures (e.g. NVIDIA, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or similar) are a plus. - Subject matter expert in AI frameworks, Data Science and Data Engineering concepts, Predictive Analytics, and/or Generative AI development practices - Working knowledge of full stack AI training, inference, development and deployment tools, including LLM, Feature Stores, Vector Databases, Embedding Models, ETL tooling, and modern programming languages/frameworks - Executive presence with public speaking skills - Entrepreneurial mindset **Preferred Qualifications** - Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, AI, Data Engineering, or a related technical field or equivalent experience. - Experience working with alliances, OEM, partner ecosystems, hyperscalers, and joint solution delivery. - Previous experience as a sales engineer, technical sales, consultant or similar role, highlighting expertise in driving sales and technical conversations in the Data Science AI/ML and Generative AI space. - Knowledge of ROI and AI - data center optimization metrics, including energy efficiency, space utilization, and performance tuning. - Experience working with cloud providers and other 3rd parties for joint GTM, leveraging relationships to drive indirect sales and co-selling opportunities. - Demonstrates a deep understanding of customer challenges and the ability to propose credible solutions. ## Skills - Hyperscaler Cloud Platforms - TensorFlow - High-Performance Computing - Artificial Neural Networks - Solution Delivery - Return On Investment - Cloud Computing - Data Models - Recommender Systems - Energy Efficiency Practitioner - Ecosystem Management - Amazon Web Services - Analytics - Strategic Alliance - Data Science - Customer Success Management - Application Development - MLOps - Partnership Development - Extract Transform Load (Etl) - Data Management - Performance Optimization - Software Deployment - Go-to-Market Strategy - Cloud Storage - Information Architecture - Relationship Building - Pre-Sales - Sales Closing - Customer Development - Feature Store - Performance Tuning - Artificial Intelligence - OEM Relationship Management - Microsoft Azure - Data Centers - Cloud Architecture - Chatbot - AI Training - Co-Selling - Retrieval-Augmented Generation (Rag) - Software Development - Collaboration - Sales Engineering - New Product Development - Scalability - Google Tag Manager - Data Architecture - Presentation Skills - Generative AI - Executive Presence - Public Speaking - AI-Native Workflows - Large Language Models (Llm) - Vector Database - Google Cloud Platform (Gcp) - Sales Process - Leadership - Customer Insights - Computer Science - Solution Design - Embedding Models (Nlp/ml) - Data Engineering - Hair Colouring - Communication - Machine Learning - Demonstration Skills - Generative AI Foundations - Predictive Analytics - Sales ## Related - [Technology & Software jobs](https://www.foundrole.com/careers/technology-and-software?utm_source=ai_markdown)- [Cloud & DevOps jobs](https://www.foundrole.com/careers/technology-and-software/cloud-and-devops?utm_source=ai_markdown)- [Solutions Architect jobs](https://www.foundrole.com/careers/technology-and-software/cloud-and-devops/solutions-architect?utm_source=ai_markdown)- [Browse all companies](https://www.foundrole.com/companies?utm_source=ai_markdown) ## Explore this job market - [California](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us/california?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 260758 jobs - [Software Products](https://www.foundrole.com/sectors/technology/software-products?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 118920 jobs - [Santa Clara, CA](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us/california/santa-clara?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 6822 jobs ## Related pages - [California](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us/california?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 260758 jobs - [Software Products](https://www.foundrole.com/sectors/technology/software-products?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 118920 jobs - [Santa Clara, CA](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us/california/santa-clara?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 6822 jobs ## Browse - [Companies](https://www.foundrole.com/companies?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Jobs by country](https://www.foundrole.com/locations?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Jobs in the United States by state and city](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [H1B sponsors by location](https://www.foundrole.com/h1b-sponsors?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [H1B salaries](https://www.foundrole.com/h1b-salaries?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Sectors and industries](https://www.foundrole.com/sectors?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Jobs by career field](https://www.foundrole.com/careers?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Latest jobs](https://www.foundrole.com/jobs/latest?utm_source=ai_markdown)