Hardware Engineer
DDN · Wheat Ridge
We are seeking a hands-on Platform Engineer to support the deployment, validation, and operation of large-scale solutions. This role focuses on system bring-up, hardware and firmware validation, and operational reliability across storage, compute, and networking infrastructure.
You will work closely with senior engineers to ensure systems are correctly configured, stable, and performant: from BIOS settings and firmware versions to OS behavior and device health.
What You’ll Do
Perform system bring-up and validation, including BIOS configuration, firmware updates, and OS-level checks.
Configure and verify platform settings (BIOS, BMC, OS) to ensure systems meet performance, reliability and consistency standards.
Execute and validate firmware updates across components, including NVMe drives, NICs, and system firmware.
Identify and troubleshoot issues related to:
Device initialization and visibility.
Firmware mismatches or upgrade failures.
Misconfigurations impacting performance or stability.
Understand, define and test procedures for:
Drive swaps and rebuilds.
Data integrity and system health checks.
Minimizing impact to running systems.
Monitor and validate storage device health, including basic performance characteristics and failure indicators.
Work with Linux systems to verify configuration, collect diagnostics, and assist in debugging issues.
Collaborate with senior engineers to escalate and help triage complex cross-layer issues.
Contribute to documentation and standardization of bring-up, validation, and operational procedures.
What will you bring to DDN
5+ years of experience in systems, infrastructure, or platform-focused engineering roles.
Comfortable working directly with hardware and firmware, including BIOS, BMC, and device-level tools.
Solid understanding of Linux systems administration and troubleshooting.
Familiarity with storage and networking fundamentals (NVMe, NICs, basic I/O concepts).
Experience performing and supporting firmware updates, with awareness of risk and failure scenarios.
Good scripting skills; familiarity with Go is a plus.
Strong attention to detail, able to verify configurations and catch subtle issues.
Willingness to learn and grow into deeper system, performance, and debugging responsibilities.
Curiosity about why systems perform the way they do: investigate, rather than just run scripts blindly.