AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By combining advances in cloud infrastructure, automation, analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.

At AHEAD, we foster a culture where everyone belongs—ensuring that all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create opportunities for people to speak up, drive change, and shape our culture.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.

We welcome all candidates who will help diversify and enrich the range of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.

The NetApp Intelligent Support SME is responsible for delivering vendor-alternative support across NetApp storage platforms (AFF, FAS, E-Series, All SAN Array, ONTAP/ONTAP Select, StorageGRID). This role provides advanced troubleshooting expertise, proactive risk management using tools such as Active IQ, and end-to-end coordination of hardware RMAs to maintain high availability and performance in customer environments.

Key Responsibilities
– Provide expert support for NetApp storage environments, including issues related to performance, capacity, data protection, and interoperability.
– Manage NetApp incidents end-to-end, from triage to resolution, including clear communication with customers.
– Serve as the escalation point for Sev 1 and Sev 2 storage incidents to quickly restore service and protect critical workloads.
– Perform root cause analysis for major storage incidents and implement corrective and preventive actions.
– Lead and coordinate hardware replacement processes (RMAs, drive replacements, controllers, shelves) with NetApp and logistics partners.
– Manage the full RMA lifecycle: identify issues, create RMAs, track shipments, coordinate on-site installation, and validate outcomes after replacement.
– Ensure accurate documentation of RMA activities, asset updates, and configuration changes in both customer and internal systems.
– Use NetApp tools (e.g., Active IQ) to identify risks, configuration deviations, and performance/capacity issues.
– Conduct regular environment health and best-practice reviews, presenting findings and remediation plans to customers.
– Recommend and support configuration improvements, firmware/ONTAP upgrades, and enhancements to data layout.
– Plan and support NetApp-related change windows (e.g., ONTAP upgrades, shelf additions, hardware refreshes).
– Create and review change plans, rollback procedures, and validation checklists for storage changes.
– Ensure changes are carried out safely and documented thoroughly.
– Act as a trusted technical advisor to customers on NetApp and storage-related architecture decisions.
– Collaborate with networking, virtualization, and backup teams to resolve multi-domain issues (e.g., VMware + NetApp, SAN fabrics, backup tooling).
– Coordinate with NetApp support when needed while maintaining AHEAD’s “single point of contact” approach for the customer.
– Develop and maintain runbooks, troubleshooting guides, and knowledge base content for NetApp technologies.
– Identify opportunities to automate health checks, reporting, and common remediation tasks.
– Mentor and cross-train other engineers on NetApp storage technologies and best practices.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Expertise – Strong hands-on experience with:
– NetApp AFF and FAS platforms
– ONTAP/ONTAP Select (clustered architecture, SnapMirror/SnapVault, etc.)
– E-Series and/or All SAN Arrays (as applicable)
– Storage networking concepts (Fibre Channel, iSCSI, NFS, SMB)
– Performance tuning and capacity planning for storage environments
– Familiarity with Active IQ or similar analytics tools for storage health and risk analysis

Experience
– 8+ years in storage engineering/administration/support, ideally with a strong NetApp focus.
– Experience supporting mission-critical, 24×7 enterprise environments.
– Experience with incident, problem, and change management (ITIL preferred).

Soft Skills
– Clear, concise communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
– Ability to manage multiple incidents and projects at the same time.
– Strong ownership and accountability for delivering customer outcomes.

Education & Certifications (Preferred)
– Relevant NetApp certifications, such as:
– NetApp Certified Data Administrator (NCDA)
– NetApp Certified Implementation Engineer (NCIE)
– Other storage/virtualization certifications (e.g., VMware, Cisco) are a plus.

Success Measures (Role-Level KPIs)
– Reduction in Sev 1 incident rate per NetApp array or environment.
– RMA cycle times (from initiation to fully validated replacement) meeting or exceeding targets.
– Active IQ risk remediation performance and reduction in critical/high-risk findings over time.
– Storage environment health scores (capacity, performance, configuration compliance).
– Customer satisfaction (CSAT) related to NetApp incidents and reviews.

Why AHEAD:
Through our day-to-day work and internal communities such as Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity in people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.

We drive growth by equipping our office with leading technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, promoting cross-department training and development, and supporting certifications and credentials for continuous learning.

India Employment Benefits include:
– Comprehensive health insurance coverage for employees, with options to extend coverage to dependents
– Paid time off and company holidays, plus additional leave benefits as per policy
– Flexible work arrangements to support work-life balance
– Learning and development opportunities to support continuous growth and upskilling
– Employee wellness initiatives focused on physical and mental well-being
– Retirement and statutory benefits in line with India regulations
– An inclusive, people-first culture with strong emphasis on collaboration and ownership