Principal Engineer, Applications Engineering (APC) - Western Digital

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.

Principal Engineer, Applications Engineering (APC) will be responsible for supporting HAMR program by developing new and maintaining existing Advanced Process Control systems (including run-to-run control and fault detection and classification) for HAMR program manufacturing yield & quality, process capability, cycle time and productivity improvement.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Team leader to implement APC solutions through partnership with HAMR Process Engineering, Equipment Engineering and IT teams.
• Manage HAMR APC projects toward successful production release and quantify benefits against baseline with business and process metrics.
• Performing data analysis to determine and optimize FDC model for fault detection
• Setting up new control strategies, recipe for automation. Supporting process engineers to maintain existing control strategies. Work with process engineering team for setting up central recipe management system (CRMS) and run/batch builder configuration.
• Performing data analysis to determine and optimize control model and tuning algorithm for R2R controller with feedback and feed-forward control.
• Design and develop new FDC models for scrap prevention, tool matching, preventative maintenance prediction and enabling condition based maintenance.
• Performing system integration test for run-to-run control, fault detection and automation host software.
• Maintaining run-to-run control and fault detection systems. Monitor R2R controller and FD model performance and initiate continuous improvement projects to maximize benefits of APC solutions.
• Troubleshooting to find root cause of system problem or software error.
• Assist in system recovery to production state in the event of system failure.
• Participate in run-to-run control and fault detection system improvement roadmap planning.
• The engineer will be working in a fast-paced, cross-functional team environment.
• Must be a team player who can work well with diverse team and able to drive continuous improvement.

• MS/PhD degree in Engineering (Computer, Electrical, Chemical, Industrial or Mechanical), Applied Physics, Operations Research or Statistics.
• Must have research or work experience with run-to-run control system and fault detection for high tech manufacturing environment.
• Experience with Statistical analysis and ML (e.g., JMP/MINITAB, MATLAB, Python) and ML/MVA software, run-to-run control and fault detection software.
• Strong analytical and programming skills, statistical data analysis, DOE, regression analysis and multivariate data analysis skills. Familiarity with processing technologies and equipment.
• Must also have a good understanding of Information Technology: Microsoft and Linux operating systems, SQL server, SQL queries, networking, SECS/GEM tool communication and data acquisition (DAQ) technologies.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills with Project Management experience.

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 jobs.accommodations@wdc.com 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 01/14/2025(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.