Principal Engineer - Reader Development Test and Characterization

Company Description

At Western Digital, our vision is to power global innovation and push the boundaries of technology to make what you thought was once impossible, possible.

At our core, Western Digital is a company of problem solvers. People achieve extraordinary things given the right technology. For decades, we’ve been doing just that. Our technology helped people put a man on the moon.

We are a key partner to some of the largest and highest growth organizations in the world. From energizing the most competitive gaming platforms to enabling systems to make cities safer and cars smarter and more connected, to powering the data centers behind many of the world’s biggest companies and public cloud, Western Digital is fueling a brighter, smarter future.

Binge-watch any shows, use social media or shop online lately? You’ll find Western Digital supporting the storage infrastructure behind many of these platforms. And, that flash memory card that captures and preserves your most precious moments? That’s us, too.

We offer an expansive portfolio of technologies, storage devices and platforms for business and consumers alike. Our data-centric solutions are comprised of the Western Digital, G-Technology, SanDisk and WD brands.

Today’s exceptional challenges require your unique skills. It’s You & Western Digital. Together, we’re the next BIG thing in data.

Western Digital is seeking a test and device characterization engineer to join our Advanced Reader Development engineering team in San Jose, CA. The successful candidate will be part of a growing team developing Western Digital’s next generation of readback sensors for hard disk applications.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Collect, process, analyze electrical data from spintronic sensors
• Responsible for wafer and device level testing of spintronic sensors – including day-to-day lab and data management
• Work closely with design and modeling groups to predict and explain results
• Bring up new laboratory for device-level magnetic testing: Specifying laboratory test equipment and writing test/analysis code
• Working with integration engineers to conduct failure analysis utilizing data from materials analysis as well as electrical test
• Keep up-to-date on recent advances in spintronics, magnetic materials and devices; identify new technologies and advances in physics that would benefit WDs read head development

Qualifications

Required:

• MS+ 4 years of experience with a degree in Physics, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Prior experience in device test and characterization in disk drives, magnetic memory, semiconductor, optoelectronics or solid-state physics
• Hands-on experience with test equipment: Lock-in amplifiers, current sources, wafer probers etc.
• Prior experience in test equipment integration and coding using Labview, LabWindows, Matlab or similar
• Demonstrated ability to summarize complex data in clear and concise reports

Preferred:

• Ph.D. degree preferred.
• Background in magnetic devices, spintronics or MRAM
• Device fabrication or process integration experience is a plus

Skills:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Data analysis skills to manipulate and analyze large data sets with tools such as JMP, R, Python or similar packages

Compensation & Benefits Details

• An employee’s pay position within the salary range may be based on several factors including but not limited to (1) relevant education; qualifications; certifications; and experience; (2) skills, ability, knowledge of the job; (3) performance, contribution and results; (4) geographic location; (5) shift; (6) internal and external equity; and (7) business and organizational needs.
• The salary range is what we believe to be the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and this range is only applicable for jobs to be performed in California, Colorado, New York or remote jobs that can be performed in California, Colorado and New York. This range may be modified in the future.
• You will be eligible to participate in Western Digital’s Short-Term Incentive (STI) Plan, which provides incentive awards based on Company and individual performance. Depending on your role and your performance, you may be eligible to participate in our annual Long-Term Incentive (LTI) program, which consists of restricted stock units (RSUs) or cash equivalents, pursuant to the terms of the LTI plan. Please note that not all roles are eligible to participate in the LTI program, and not all roles are eligible for equity under the LTI plan. RSU awards are also available to eligible new hires, subject to Western Digital’s Standard Terms and Conditions for Restricted Stock Unit Awards.
• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid vacation time; paid sick leave; medical/dental/vision insurance; life, accident and disability insurance; tax-advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts; employee assistance program; other voluntary benefit programs such as supplemental life and AD&D, legal plan, pet insurance, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity; tuition reimbursement; transit; the Applause Program, employee stock purchase plan, and the Western Digital Savings 401(k) Plan.