Early Career Talent - Read/Write Channel Firmware Engineering

Western Digital • Rochester, MN

15h • Onsite

About The Position

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. 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.
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.

Requirements

• Currently pursuing or recently completed B.S. or M.S. degree in Electrical / Computer Engineering or Computer Science
• Proficiency with C/C++ and Python programming languages
• Proficient 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

Nice To Haves

• Experience with embedded firmware and hardware / software applications
• Proficiency with TCL programming language
• Strong knowledge of HDD functionality and applications
• Proficiency with oscilloscopes and their applications
• Solid statistical analysis skills
• Knowledge of Big Data Systems such as Hadoop/Hive, Presto, and Redshift
• Experience with machine learning techniques

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

Benefits

• 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
• the WD Savings 401(k) Plan

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level