Okay, I've searched for Senior Storage Engineer roles in Chicago, IL, requiring 5+ years of experience with large-scale storage systems, including Lustre and Ceph expertise, within high-performance computing environments, and full-time positions. I have found 47 positions for you.

Sure. Here's the analysis:

Job Analysis:

The Senior Storage Engineer role is fundamentally about ensuring the reliability, performance, and scalability of a highly complex, globally distributed storage infrastructure that supports critical research and compute workloads. This person is hired to architect and maintain storage systems that can handle rapidly growing data volumes with minimal latency and high fault tolerance. The responsibilities go beyond routine operations to include deep collaboration with infrastructure and research teams, integrating cutting-edge storage technology (such as Lustre, Ceph, DDN) with computational clusters across multiple continents. Success in this role means not only solving intricate, layered technical problems spanning storage, OS, and network domains but also future-proofing infrastructure through performance tuning, hardware/software optimization, and scripting automation. Given the global support rotation and high-stakes production environment, the engineer must excel at problem-solving under pressure, exercising sound judgment autonomously and communicating clearly with stakeholders. The expertise in Linux internals, large-scale storage architectures, and programming for automation speaks to the need for a proactive, systems-thinking engineer who can balance immediate incident response with long-term infrastructure strategy.

Company Analysis:

Engtal is positioned as a high-impact recruitment firm that connects specialized talent with organizations across engineering, construction, trading, and finance sectors, emphasizing quality and meaningful career growth. Although the role is for a technology and research environment, the placement by Engtal suggests a commitment to matching deeply skilled professionals with complex, mission-critical positions. Engtal’s award-winning culture—from being Chicago’s Best & Brightest repeatedly to fostering diversity and women in leadership—reflects a values-driven environment prioritizing long-term success and empowerment. For a Senior Storage Engineer, this means entering a setting that values both technical excellence and broader professional growth, with likely emphasis on collaborative culture, continuous improvement, and inclusion. While the job requires high technical autonomy and cross-functional collaboration, the organizational context implies the engineer will be well-supported by a culture that nurtures talent and offers visibility within a performance-focused environment. This role aligns strategically with Engtal’s mission by placing critical talent in roles that drive the success of innovative and globally distributed infrastructures in the client organizations they serve.

Absolutely. Here are some mock interview questions that could come up:

• Behavioral: Tell me about a time when you had to troubleshoot a complex storage performance issue that involved coordination with multiple teams. How did you approach it and what was the outcome?
• Behavioral: Describe an experience where you implemented an automation script or tool that significantly improved storage system operations. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
• Behavioral: Can you talk about a situation where you had to manage a critical incident outside normal working hours? How did you maintain composure and ensure resolution?
• Behavioral: How have you communicated technical concepts and trade-offs to non-engineering stakeholders? Can you provide an example where your communication directly influenced a decision?
• Technical: How would you design a globally replicated storage solution optimized for both low latency and fault tolerance? Which technologies and techniques would you prioritize?
• Technical: Explain your experience with one or more modern parallel or distributed file systems like Lustre or Ceph. What are common pitfalls and how have you addressed them?
• Technical: Describe your approach to performance benchmarking storage systems. What key metrics do you focus on, and how do you interpret those results to guide tuning?
• Technical: What scripting or programming languages have you used for storage system automation, and can you walk me through a recent project where you developed tooling or automation?
• Situational: Imagine one of the data centers experiences a sudden hardware failure causing storage latency spikes across multiple clusters. What steps would you take to identify and resolve the problem?
• Situational: You receive conflicting requirements from infrastructure and research teams about optimizing storage for throughput vs. data safety. How do you balance these competing priorities?
• Situational: During a global support rotation, you encounter an unfamiliar critical storage incident. How do you proceed to diagnose and escalate while minimizing downtime?
• Company Fit: Why are you interested in working within a highly mission-critical, globally distributed infrastructure environment supported by Engtal?
• Company Fit: Engtal emphasizes meaningful connections and long-term success. How do your career goals and values align with this approach?
• Company Fit: How do you see diversity and inclusion playing a role in high-performance engineering teams, and why might that matter in a company like Engtal?
• Questions to Ask Interviewer: Can you describe the current structure and scale of the Storage Engineering team and how this role collaborates with other departments?
• Questions to Ask Interviewer: How does Engtal or the client organization measure success for this role in the first 6-12 months, especially regarding system uptime and performance improvements?
• Questions to Ask Interviewer: What opportunities are there for professional growth and learning, particularly in emerging storage technologies or infrastructure automation?