Mechanical Design Engineer (Senior Technologist)

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:

Western Digital is seeking a Mechanical Design Engineer (Senior Technologist) responsible for design and analysis of high-performance storage systems and subsystems for the OEM and data center marketplace with specific focus on product design for the housing of hard disk drives (HDDs). The successful candidate will work to develop products that are robust in their ability to withstand shock, vibration, thermal, acoustic, and other environmental challenges when deployed to a field environment yet world class in their design principles. Apply design and working knowledge of HDDs to impact the design of other portions of an enclosure housing HDDs and other system level components such as printed circuit boards, sheet metal and plastic components, system fans. The ability to work alongside HDD development engineering staff as well as enclosure development team members is critical in the role of this position as well as the ability to collect population level data for an enclosure housing many HDDs and then boil down HDD interaction with other portions of the system using statistical analysis and HDD functional knowledge. Shock, vibration, and acoustic experience will be utilized in this position to influence design optimization of an enclosure with intellectual property developed as part of the enclosure design. Intimate knowledge of SolidWorks and ANSYS and its application to part design and study as well as tool and fixture design will entail a portion of the job. Data acquisition and analysis from a variety of sensors using unique Matlab scripting is also a portion of the job.

The Mechanical Design Engineer (Senior Technologist) will be the lead HDD subject matter expert and resource to the enclosure development team for the mechanical design and development of datacenter storage systems and subsystems consisting of sheet metal parts, plastic injection molded parts, assemblies, HDDs, solid state drives, fans, power supplies, electronic printed circuit boards (PCB’s) with high-speed communication interfaces and rack-based hardware. Due to the complex interrelationships of these systems, the candidate will need to hold vast demonstrable mechanical engineering expertise in how to provide as quiescent an environment for an HDD to function within. The ideal candidate will have the ability to readily conduct HDD level and system level analysis of how an array of HDDs are functioning relative to other HDDs in the system and HDD interaction with both vibration and acoustic noise due to fans and other sources. The engineer will interact with the HDD servo development team, enclosure development, and program management team members as well as hyper-scale customers of WD and may direct/lead the work of others. In addition to a broad background across many facets of mechanical engineering, the candidate must possess strong analytical skills and be a creative “out of the box” thinker who is self-motivated and a capable multi-tasker.

In this role, the engineer will be expected to develop and execute unique test software for HDD parametric and performance measurement while within or outside of a chassis. The engineer will also be expected to have the ability to reduce a large amount of data in areas such as HDD head positioning data, HDD in-chassis dynamics, component test data, and other data used to assess how an HDD or an array of HDDs is performing relative to expected data throughput. Additionally, you will lead/participate in design reviews, be accountable for meeting test and analysis schedule commitments and deliverables, issue resolution and work with domestic and international suppliers and manufacturing locations to ensure successful enclosure operation at the system level and the individual HDD level. Acting at a Senior Technologist level, the candidate will conduct feasibility studies on components or assemblies to assess function compared to design goals. Additionally, the engineer will be responsible for the development and execution of validation plans culminating in reports demonstrating the successful function of both system level and HDD level operations.

Each project team consists of cross-functional engineers with electrical, mechanical, firmware and manufacturing backgrounds at a minimum. In this position, you will mentor and build the skills of less experienced engineers. The candidate will design and analyze mechanical systems in both the theoretical and empirical realm, influence enclosure part and system level design and use SolidWorks and/or ANSYS to generate 3D models and 2D prints for the primary need of evaluating cutting edge designs such as WD’s patented IsoVibe designs or similar. Directs support personnel in the preparation of detailed design, design testing,  prototype testing, and data acquisition/analysis. Apply present knowledge or learn and utilize tools such as Matlab, statistical analysis software, and Microsoft Office products. This is a Senior Technologist level position for the right individual with superior creative design and technical skills, good project deliverable abilities, and an enthusiasm for success as well as extensive experience in use of  acquisition and analysis of the data collected as the prime design tools at your disposal.

REQUIRED:

• BSME or MSME degree with minimum of 10+ years product development experience in computing, data storage or related fields; especially in the realm of HDD manufacturing and/or design.
• The ability to learn new concepts quickly and apply to new situations
• Demonstrated ability in creative problem solving and innovation.
• Extensive working knowledge of CAD systems (SolidWorks preferred) required.
• Extensive experience in design and modeling of vibration, shock, and acoustic attenuation components with intentional design features and tolerance considerations.
• Working knowledge of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and/or structural finite element analysis (FEA) is desirable; experience with multiple analysis programs is a plus.
• Prior experience with ANSYS non-linear analysis using viscoelastic materials is desirable.
• Shall be familiar with test instrumentation such as accelerometers, force gauges, air flow, and thermal test equipment.
• Highly proficient in writing and executing test plans and writing test reports thereby validating the design of parts, assemblies, and systems to positively impact HDD function in an enclosure.
• Experience in successful participation (engineering portion) of development projects from design to production.
• Excellent project multi-tasking and communication skills are required for the self-motivated employee.
• Solid understanding of manufacturing technologies and methodologies including actual manufacturing experience is a plus.
• Ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally (<10% total work time on average).
• Extensive knowledge and use of Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, Power Point, MSTeams, OneNote) and Adobe products.
• Experience with developing scripting and GUI code using Matla
• The ability to distill large amounts of experimental data to a meaningful conclusion and write a brief report for internal or external use

 Working knowledge of the following:

• Hand tools (pliers, clamps, jigs).
• Vises and holding fixtures.
• Drill, files, burr removal.
• Lifting and positioning equipment safely.
• -Ability to lift 50lbs on an as needed basis.

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 02-01-2025 (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

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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.
• If your position is non-exempt, you are eligible for overtime pay pursuant to company policy and applicable laws.  You may also be eligible for shift differential pay, depending on the shift to which you are assigned.

• You will be eligible to be considered for bonuses under either Western Digital’s Short Term Incentive Plan (“STI Plan”) or the Sales Incentive Plan (“SIP”) 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.

Notice To Candidates: Please be aware that Western Digital and its subsidiaries will never request payment as a condition for applying for a position or receiving an offer of employment. Should you encounter any such requests, please report it immediately to Western Digital Ethics Helpline or email [email protected].