Systems Engineering Manager–China
Company: VAST Data
Location: Shanghai or Beijing
Description
VAST Data is reshaping the future of AI and data infrastructure. As we expand into one of the world most dynamic technology markets, we are seeking a highly driven Systems Engineering manager. In this pivotal role, you will act as the technical right-hand to the General Manager of Greater China.
Because we are in a rapid scale-up phase, this is strictly a player-coach role. Before you build out a large regional team, you will be our founding technical boots on the ground. You must be just as comfortable racking and stacking hardware, running command-line diagnostics during a complex PoC, and architecting AI data pipelines as you are presenting to a Fortune 500 CIO.
You will personally lead the technical sales cycle for our most strategic, high-value accounts, while gradually recruiting and leading a world-class Systems Engineering (SE) team. If you are a hardcore technologist who loves the thrill of the deal and wants to build a multi-billion- dollar business from the ground up, this is your opportunity.
Key Responsibilities
- Hands-On Technical Sales Account Execution
- Lead from the Front: Act as the lead Systems Engineer on VAST’s largest, most strategic Tier-1 and hyperscale accounts in China. You will personally own the technical win.
- Architect Solutions: Design complex, high-performance data infrastructure solutions tailored to customer requirements in AI/ML, High-Performance Computing (HPC),and enterprise workloads.
- Execute Proof of Concepts (PoCs): Roll up your sleeves to personally install, configure, tune, and benchmark VAST systems during highly competitive PoCs against entrenched domestic and global vendors.
- Overcome Objections: Serve as the deepest technical expert in the room, capable of whiteboarding low-level architecture, debugging performance bottlenecks, and proving VASTs superiority in real-time.
- Technical Leadership; Go-To-Market Strategy
- Partner with the GM: Work lockstep with the GM of Greater China to define the technical go-to-market strategy, prioritize target accounts, and navigate regional data compliance (Cybersecurity Law, PIPL).
- Build the Team: As pipeline dictates, recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing team of Systems Engineers. Teach them VAST technology by bringing them into your active deals.
- Enable the Ecosystem: Personally lead the technical onboarding and enablement for VAST’s foundational channel partners, VARs, SIs, and domestic cloud alliances (Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei).
- Bridge to R&D: Serve as the technical translator between the Chinese market and VAST’s global Product/Engineering teams, advocating for specific regional feature requirements and competitive intelligence.
REQUIREMENTS
- 10+ years of progressive experience in technical presales or systems engineering, with a proven track record as an elite, high-performing Individual Contributor (IC) on massive enterprise accounts.
- 3+ years of experience in a leadership or player-coach; capacity, ideally as a founding technical hire for a Western tech company entering the Chinese market.
- Demonstrable history of personally driving and winning complex technical sales cycles and PoCs with deal values in the $500K–$5M+ range.
- You must still be highly technical today—this is not a role for someone who has stepped entirely away from the technology to focus solely on spreadsheets and resource allocation.
Technical Domain Expertise
- Deep Infrastructure Knowledge: Expert-level understanding of enterprise storage (NAS, object, all-flash), file systems, and software-defined architectures.
- AI Compute: Strong grasp of AI/ML data pipelines, GPU-accelerated computing (NVIDIA ecosystem), and the infrastructure demands of LLM training and RAG.
- Networking & Linux: Hands-on proficiency with Linux OS tuning, high-performance networking (InfiniBand, RoCE, TCP/IP), and containerization (Kubernetes).
- Competitive Landscape: Intimate, battle-tested knowledge of how to beat Huawei OceanStor, Inspur, DDN, WEKA, and Dell PowerScale in competitive bake-offs.
Skills & Attributes
- Languages: Fluent/Native Mandarin and strong professional English are strictly required.
- Startup DNA: Extreme resilience, resourcefulness, and a bias for action. You thrive in ambiguity and dont wait for headquarters to solve your problems.
- Willingness to travel: Extensive travel required within Greater China (approx. 40- 50%), often visiting data centers and customer sites.
What We Offer
- Market-Leading Compensation: Highly competitive base salary, uncapped variable commission, and equity participation in a pre-IPO company fundamentally changing AI infrastructure.
- The Best of Both Worlds: The autonomy to build your own technical organization, combined with the thrill of staying hands-on with bleeding-edge technology.
- World-Class Support: Partner closely with an elite global engineering team and a visionary regional General Manager.
Skills Required
- 10+ years experience in technical presales or systems engineering
- 3+ years of experience in a leadership capacity
- Demonstrable history of winning complex technical sales cycles
- Expert-level understanding of enterprise storage and software-defined architectures
- Strong grasp of AI/ML data pipelines and GPU-accelerated computing
VAST Data Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about VAST Data and has not been reviewed or approved by VAST Data.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, vision and life insurance are included, with several elements identified as employer-provided. Coverage aligns with what is commonly offered by high‑growth tech companies.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time off includes generous or unlimited PTO alongside paid sick days and paid holidays, coupled with remote or work‑from‑home flexibility. This breadth supports taking time away when needed.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Company equity is a standard part of offers with a typical four‑year vest, and professional development support is available. Equity is positioned as a meaningful component of total compensation at a growth‑stage company.
VAST Data Insights
What We Do
Meet the data platform company for the AI era. Accelerating time-to-insight for workload-intensive applications, the VAST Data Platform delivers scalable performance, radically simple data management and enhanced productivity for the AI-powered world. Launched in 2019, VAST is the fastest-selling data infrastructure startup in history.
