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Senior Software Engineer - Storage (C/C++)

Microsoft· Software Engineering
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Hyderabad, IndiaFull-timePosted 6mo ago

About the role

Senior Software Engineer role within the Windows Servicing & Delivery (WSD) Storage & File Systems team focusing on kernel engineering and enterprise reliability across Windows storage stack, including NTFS, ReFS, S2D, WSFC/CSV, VSS, and NVMe/iSCSI/file system miniport drivers.

Responsibilities

  • Own end-to-end resolution of critical ICMs escalated from top enterprise customers — analyze memory dumps, ETW traces, Storage Spaces logs, and cluster event logs to root-cause failures in S2D, WSFC, CSV, NTFS, and ReFS.
  • Investigate and fix security vulnerabilities in the Windows storage stack: privilege escalation through NTFS reparse points and junctions, information disclosure via uninitialized kernel pool in file system drivers, and denial-of-service through crafted on-disk structures in ReFS or NTFS.
  • Design and implement reliability and correctness fixes in kernel-mode storage miniport drivers (StorPort, NVMe, iSCSI, SMB Direct/RDMA) and file system filter drivers — owning the full fix lifecycle from root cause through regression test to servicing release.
  • Work directly with Storage Spaces Direct (S2D): diagnose and fix rebuild, rebalance, and fault-domain logic errors; investigate cache tier promotion/demotion bugs; resolve pool fragmentation and storage bus layer (SBL) issues in hyper-converged deployments.
  • Maintain and harden Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) and Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV): resolve quorum edge cases, CSV ownership transfer failures, cluster validation regressions, and inter-node storage arbitration deadlocks.
  • Contribute to the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and Windows Backup infrastructure: fix provider/requester interaction bugs, VSS writer timeouts in large-scale environments, and shadow copy metadata consistency failures.
  • Develop diagnostic tooling and automated regression suites for the storage stack — including kernel debugger extensions (!sdt, !storport analysis), ETW provider instrumentation, and Storage Spaces health model validation.
  • Collaborate with MSRC for coordinated disclosure and patch delivery on storage-related CVEs; participate in threat modeling and security design reviews for new file system and storage features.
  • Engage directly with enterprise customers and Partner Technical Advisors (PTAs) during active outages to provide expert-level guidance and expedite fix delivery through the servicing pipeline.
  • Mentor engineers; drive technical bar through code reviews, design reviews, and active participation in WSD hiring loops.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years of software engineering with deep expertise in C and C++ for Windows kernel-mode development.
  • OR equivalent experience.
  • Hands-on experience with Windows storage driver stack: StorPort miniport drivers, storage filter drivers, or file system minifilter drivers — understanding of IRP flow, completion routines, and cancel-safe queue management.
  • Solid grounding in Windows kernel fundamentals.
  • Demonstrated ability to perform crash dump analysis and live kernel debugging using WinDbg.
  • Working knowledge of NTFS on-disk structures: MFT record layout, attribute types, USN journal, and the NTFS log file for crash recovery.
  • Familiarity with ReFS (Resilient File System): B+ tree metadata structure, integrity streams, block cloning, and the differences in crash recovery model versus NTFS.
  • Experience debugging file system corruption scenarios: cross-linked clusters, orphaned MFT records, directory entry inconsistencies, and reparse point cycles.
  • Understanding of Windows file system minifilter architecture: altitude registration, pre/post operation callbacks.
  • Hands-on experience with Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC): quorum models (Node Majority, Disk Witness, Cloud Witness), cluster network configuration, and the cluster API.
  • Deep understanding of Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV): CSV file system (CSVFS) redirected vs. direct I/O modes, CSV ownership arbitration, and coordination with the Storage Bus Layer.
  • Experience with Storage Spaces Direct (S2D): storage pool creation, virtual disk provisioning, cache tier architecture (NVMe + SSD + HDD), fault domain awareness, and rebuild/rebalance behavior under node and drive failure.
  • Familiarity with storage connectivity protocols in clustered environments: SMB Direct (RDMA), iSCSI multipath (MPIO/DSM), NVMe-oF, and Fibre Channel HBA integration with StorPort.
  • Proven ability to work high-urgency customer escalations (ICMs / CritSits): triage under time pressure, communicate root cause to non-technical stakeholders, and deliver targeted fixes through the Windows servicing pipeline.
  • Experience reading and interpreting Storage Spaces diagnostic packages, cluster logs, and ETW traces (StorPort, ReFS, NTFS providers) to reconstruct failure timelines.
  • Familiarity with Microsoft Support tooling: ProcMon/xperf captures, and WPA (Windows Performance Analyzer) for I/O latency profiling.

Skills

Required:C/C++ for Windows kernel-mode developmentWindows storage driver stackCrash dump analysis & live kernel debugging

Benefits

  • #wsdjobs
  • #wsdindia
  • #ewdindia 
  • #wsd
  • #cfe
  • #W+DJOBS
Last updated Sep 10, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

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