Principal Engineer, Development Engineering

At WD, 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, WD 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 and capture the first-ever picture of a black hole.

We offer an expansive portfolio of technologies, HDDs, and platforms for business, creative professionals, and consumers alike under our Western Digital®, WD®, and WD_BLACK™.

We are a key partner to some of the largest and highest-growth organizations in the world. From enabling systems to make cities safer and more connected, to powering the data centers behind many of the world’s biggest companies and hyperscale cloud providers, to meeting the massive and ever-growing data storage needs of the AI era, WD is fueling a brighter, smarter future.

Today’s exceptional challenges require your unique skills. Together, we can build the future of data storage.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

BE integration engineer and technical project lead responsible for evaluating how new wafer-level designs and materials perform through back-end slider processing. The role blends hands-on materials characterization, cross-team coordination, technology milestone tracking, and emerging AI/ML capability development — all within a HAMR recording head manufacturing environment.  Examples include:

• Wafer-to-slider BE assessment — Evaluate wafer designs at BE through process mapping, electrical measurements, and surface characterization using AFM, SEM, and FIB-TEM techniques.
• Technology milestone ownership — Tracks and drives BE evaluations for multiple technology milestones, coordinating DOE (Design of Experiment) builds, lapping, and post-process inspections.
• Cross-functional coordination — Leads a bi-weekly WF/BE interlock meeting that bridges wafer-level (front-end) teams with BE development, managing agendas and ensuring alignment across engineers in multiple geographies.
• AI/ML initiatives — Drives projects using machine learning and WD's ML platform for data-driven prediction of slider performance metrics.
• Process automation — Develops scripts for ISA data automation, missing lot checking, and multi-step query tools to improve team efficiency.

REQUIRED:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Science or engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field 
• (Preferred) 3–5+ years in HDD head manufacturing, magnetic recording, or semiconductor process engineering, with hands-on experience using AFM, SEM, FIB-TEM, and optical microscopy
• Experience with DOE (Design of Experiments) planning, execution, and statistical process control (SPC/EDCSPC) for data-driven decision making
• Familiarity with AI/ML tools for defect detection and process optimization

SKILLS:

• Proficiency in competitive and failure analysis methodologies
• Strong communication skills in English (written and verbal) for technical reporting and cross-site meetings
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate cross-functional teams (wafer, process, BE, NPI, and design groups) and manage multiple concurrent programs with clear timelines

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WD thrives on the power and potential of diversity. As a global company, we believe the most effective way to embrace the diversity of our customers and communities is to mirror it from within. We believe the fusion of various perspectives results in the best outcomes for our employees, our company, our customers, and the world around us. We are committed to an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive through a sense of belonging, respect and contribution.

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