Staff Engineer, Wafer Metrology

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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.

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Today’s exceptional challenges require your unique skills. Together, we can build the future of data storage.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

As a metrology engineer, you will be responsible for developing and implementing precise, robust, and high‐throughput solutions to control high volume manufacturing of complex, three dimensional thin film magnetic read/write head structures.  Examples of projects include developing spectroscopic ellipsometer models to measure thin film thickness and index of refraction, creating recipes for atomic force microscopes, and analyzing x-ray fluorescence spectra.  To accomplish this objective, you will need to collaborate closely with process engineering teams that support wafer manufacturing operations.

• Work independently with minimal supervision in the Manufacturing Metrology group to
  • Develop, document, optimize, and sustain automated inspection recipes and process control solutions
  • Develop and refine technical methods/processes to identify root causes of operational issues, process inefficiencies, and measurement deviations.
  • Establish accurate baseline measurements and qualification of metrology solutions by collaborating with cross-functional teams across the fab
  • Deploy robust metrology system calibration and correlation strategies
  • Identify and resolve equipment issues, collaborating with equipment engineering teams and tool vendors to ensure optimal tool performance.
• Cross-train within Metrology Engineering to ensure seamless support coverage across teams.
• Partner with engineering and quality teams to analyze real-time metrology data, identify process deviations, and implement automated corrective strategies to improve yield and reduce cycle time.
• Summarize, document, and present results to technical and executive audiences to drive data-driven improvements.
• Communicate effectively with both management and shop floor.
• Display comfort and skill in presenting issues/findings.

Required:

• B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in physics, chemistry, engineering (chemical, mechanical, electrical), material science
• Minimum of 3-6 years of work experience depending on education
• Programming/scripting experience in any of SQL, Python, Matlab, JSL, C#, etc.
• Strong detail-oriented work habits.
• Ability to complete projects on schedule

Preferred:

• Engineers are required to be hands on (equipment, wafers) so clean room and wafer fabrication/processing experience is needed, preferably in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience with spectra analysis and film stack modeling strongly preferred: visible light reflectometry, spectroscopic ellipsometry, x-ray fluorescence
• Experience with application of atomic force microscopy in a production environment preferred
• Knowledge of tunnelling electron microscopy including practical experience with sample preparation, extraction/handling, and imaging

Skills:

• Excellent skills in problem solving, data analysis, statistics, and both written and oral communications.
• Practical understanding of electronics and mechatronics as applied to modern industrial measurement tools.

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 03/19/26, 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.
• 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].