Principal Engineer, Development Engineering

About the Company

WD (Western Digital) develops HDDs, platforms and technologies for business, creative professionals and consumers under brands including Western Digital®, WD® and WD_BLACK™. The company partners with large organizations and hyperscale cloud providers to meet data storage needs and support innovation in data centers and emerging AI applications.

Responsibilities

• Serve as BE integration engineer and technical project lead responsible for evaluating how new wafer-level designs and materials perform through back-end slider processing.
• 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 — track and drive BE evaluations for multiple technology milestones, coordinating DOE (Design of Experiment) builds, lapping, and post-process inspections.
• Cross-functional coordination — lead bi-weekly WF/BE interlock meetings that bridge wafer-level (front-end) teams with BE development, manage agendas and ensure alignment across engineers in multiple geographies.
• AI/ML initiatives — drive projects using machine learning and WD's ML platform for data-driven prediction of slider performance metrics.
• Process automation — develop scripts for ISA data automation, missing lot checking, and multi-step query tools to improve team efficiency.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Science or Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• Prefer 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 planning, execution, and statistical process control (SPC/EDCSPC) for data-driven decision making.
• Familiarity with AI/ML tools for defect detection and process optimization.
• 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.

Additional Information

WD is committed to diversity and an inclusive environment. WD offers accommodations for applicants with disabilities (contact jobs.accommodations@wdc.com). WD will not request payment as a condition for applying or receiving an offer.