Senior Spintronics Development Engineer

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.

You will be part of an innovative, fast-paced team that is responsible for researching and developing materials and thin film stacks for spintronic devices in next generation read/write hard disk drive heads.  Your expertise in this area will help develop and implement innovative solutions for complex technical issues and shape WD’s technical strategy.  You will be expected to accomplish goals and objectives independently and provide regular technical advice and direction to technical teams and management.

Responsibilities:

• Deliver next generation spintronic thin film stacks for magnetic sensors and transducers alongside a team of process development engineers and technicians.
  • Collaborate with manufacturing and equipment engineering counterparts on process transfer, additional tool qualifications with well-justified specifications and tolerances.
  • Align with Design, Characterization, and Program teams to understand device requirements and define metrics for sensor stack processes to ensure meeting product requirements on both performance and reliability.
  • Work closely with other module and integration leaders to develop new process building blocks.
  • Define read sensor and transducer improvement roadmaps including materials, stacks and related fabrication equipment and characterization metrology in alignment with Manufacturing/Production and Design/Program teams.
• Process development for next generation magnetic sensors and transducers.
  • Design recipes on process equipment.
  • Support and run development experiments on process equipment.
  • Perform, measure, and analyze DOEs to validate new processes.
  • Analyze and present results in engineering review meetings.
• Improve existing metrology and develop new measurement techniques.
  • Work with MFG/equipment engineering to introduce new metrology tools and measurements.
  • Transfer new metrology tools and measurements into production.
• Perform electrical measurements on read sensors and transducers to characterize performance.
  • Write scripts for tool automation and data analysis.
  • Collaborate with integration and process teams to develop and fabricate new test devices for next gen read sensors and transducers.
• Utilize and analyze data from databases and identify process and yield optimization opportunities.
  • Conduct aggressive experiment management and wafer tracking.
  • Perform prompt failure analysis and defect resolution.
  • Conduct readiness reviews with FMEA and tolerance studies.
• Prepare DOEs to drive the improvement activities.
  • Create and maintain detailed documentation of engineering changes.
  • Work closely with other module and integration leaders to develop new process building blocks.

Required:

• Ph.D. degree in Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields.
• 10+ years’ experience working on magnetic materials and thin film deposition.

Skills:

• Excellent written and communication skills.
• Ability to set and model high standards for effective interactions, often across groups.
• Self-motivated and proactive with the ability to effectively multi-task and work collaboratively in a fast-paced, team environment.
• Ability to understand and quantify project risks with impact and help prevent problems that may cross disciplines.
• Leadership skills and abilities to influence decisions and results.

Western Digital is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate 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 Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law poster.

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 12/08/2024 (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.