Staff Engineer, Engineering

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 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®, WD_BLACK™, and SanDisk® Professional brands.

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, Western Digital 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 

• Electrical Engineering skills needed to analyze the design and construction of industrial power systems including distribution at all levels from 120KV to 120VAC.
• Manage the design and construction of new electrical power infrastructure projects.
• Provide Electrical Project Engineer support to WD Project Managers during the design and construction of their assigned projects.
• Create Electrical Scope of Work (SOW) documents to be included in the RFP for new “plan and spec” projects and for “design-build” projects.
• Monitor and trend facility power consumption trends.
• Help develop strategies to optimize facility energy efficiency. Help plan PV (Solar) projects.
• Facility systems capacity planning including the creation of systems capacity and loading spreadsheets. Verifying that N+1 redundancy is maintained for critical systems. Engage in site surveys as needed.
• Perform studies of existing electrical systems to determine if upgrades are required. Assist with facility condition assessments of existing electrical systems.
• Project creation responsibilities including the preparation of project justification packages which include budgets, schedules, options and risks. Presentations to WD Management to secure project funding and approval.
• Project implementation responsibilities including creation of RFP’s, RFQ’s, organizing contractor bid walks, bid evaluation, purchase requisitions, selection of A&E firms, selection of contractors, selection of equipment, permit process, managing budgets, schedules and organizing project meetings.
• Work closely with and support the “Maintenance and Operations Team”. Provide them with Electrical Engineering support as needed to resolve equipment issues or systems operational issues including the development of MOP’s.
• Work closely with the Manufacturing team as required to provide facilities planning and support for retrofits or expansions of manufacturing areas including new process tool installation projects.
• Continuous improvement including updating of the Facilities Electrical Specifications. Frequent communication with other WD sites, both in the U.S. and abroad, to assure that common standards are being applied. Travel to other sites outside of the Bay Area is not a requirement.
• Working knowledge of electrical design standards for Clean Rooms, Analytical Labs, Data Centers, Telecom Rooms, Offices, Electrical Rooms, Central Utility Plants, and High Voltage Yards.
• Experienced with all types of UPS systems and Emergency Backup Generation equipment.
• Knowledge of SKM Software and Arc Flash Evaluations.
• Review of Electrical Designs, Specifications and Equipment Submittals.
• Review and update Single Line Diagrams and Panel Schedules.
• Knowledge of Title 24 Compliance Requirements.
• Able to perform and participate in “root cause failure” analysis of power outages, and experience with 8D problem solving approach.
• Good at multitasking and to keeping project data organized and up to date.
• Willing and able to apply and enforce WD procedures meant to maximize safety, and eliminate environmental and health hazards, while at the same time minimizing downtime impacts on our production operations, during the execution of projects. Review, approve and enforce construction task plans.
• Good communicator (verbal and written) who is able to maintain a friendly and open disposition while working with WD cross-functional groups such as Maintenance and Operations, Environmental Health and Safety and Manufacturing, and also when working with outside personnel such as Contractors, Vendors and Consultants.

REQUIRED

• Experience: Minimum 3 years of experience with high-tech electronics/semiconductor manufacturing or research facility, pharmaceutical bio-tech facility, or some other “high availability” and “high tech type of facility.
• Working Knowledge: Electrical Codes and Energy Codes.
• Education: B.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent.

SKILLS

• Capabilities: Design, Engineering Calculations, Estimating, Scheduling, Writing RFP’s, Evaluating Proposals, Project Management. Basic proficiency in MS Office Suite specifically Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Technical Strength: Good working knowledge of electrical power systems design, construction and operation.

Western Digital is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate against any applicant or employee based on their race, color, ancestry, religion (including religious dress and grooming standards), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), gender (including a person’s gender identity, gender expression, and gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth), age, national origin, sexual orientation, medical condition, marital status (including domestic partnership status), physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, protected medical and family care leave, Civil Air Patrol status, military and veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. We also prohibit harassment of any individual on any of the characteristics listed above. Our non-discrimination policy applies to all aspects of employment. We comply with the laws and regulations set forth in the "Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster. Our pay transparency policy is available here.

Western Digital 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.

Western Digital is committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can successfully navigate our careers website and our hiring process. Please contact us at [email protected] to advise us of your accommodation request. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.

Based on our experience, we anticipate that the application deadline will be 07/04/2025 (3 months from posting), although we reserve the right to close the application process sooner if we hire an applicant for this position before the application deadline. If we are not able to hire someone from this role before the application deadline, we will update this posting with a new anticipated application deadline.

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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.
• Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole discretion, consistent with the law.