Job Specifications
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®, 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, 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.
Job Description
Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
Support and maintain a hardware abstraction layer and special purpose engineering commands related to channel hardware applications
Firmware integration of vendor channels to optimize HDD read/write performance and other necessary magnetic recording functions
Develop validation scripts to be applied as developer and debug tools
Create test scripts to be deployed within a Continuous Integration environment
Follow Agile methodologies and have a willingness to become a contributing member of a scrum team that supports Enterprise level HDDs
Plan, perform, summarize, and present findings with respect to channel verification, channel operations, technical experiments, and failure analysis results
Be a reference for basic read/write channel functionality and applications
Work in concert with suppliers’ technical support teams and WDC internal product teams
Provide problem solving, algorithm design, risk mitigation, and complexity analysis to support the channel applications within drive firmware
Work with internal product development teams and external suppliers to provide firmware and test script abstractions of the channel hardware into HDDs on various platforms
Provide firmware and tools support to integrate new channel features, perform failure analysis, and evaluate performance for an advanced digital signal processing chip used for Hard Disk Drive (HDD) magnetic recording
This position is part of our Early Career program at WD. Our Early Career program is designed to support individuals beginning their professional career by providing the foundational training through a structured onboarding, mentorship, and development curriculum.
Qualifications
REQUIRED
Currently working towards BS/MS in Electrical / Computer Engineering or Computer Science
Proficiency with C/C++ and Python programming languages
Basic knowledge of object-oriented programming
Willingness to learn basic signal processing concepts and rapidly learn new technologies
Strong communication skills and the ability to work well within a team
Self-motivated with an aptitude for continuous improvement
Persistence on problem/issue resolution
PREFERRED
Experience with embedded firmware and hardware / software applications
Proficiency with TCL programming languages
Strong knowledge of HDD functionality and applications
Proficiency with oscilloscopes and their applications
SKILLS
Strong statistical analysis skills
Additional Information
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