Principal Engineer, Firmware engineering

Company Description

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.

Job Description

We are seeking a world-class Firmware Engineer to work on a wide variety of advanced next-generation high performance storage system enclosures for the OEM and data center marketplace. You will have demonstrated ability to execute complex projects and an understanding of the who, what and how of system development. You will have strong skills and experience in the computer server and storage industry including familiarization with embedded storage processors, storage protocols, and servers. This is a high-impact, high visibility opportunity for the right individual with superior technical skills, good project management abilities, and an enthusiasm for success.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Design and develop firmware for new and existing enterprise class storage enclosure products using C and C++
• Debug and implement solutions to complex storage and networking issues
• Generate firmware requirements and specifications for enterprise class storage enclosure products
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams including FW, EE, ME, and Manufacturing during all phases of product development
• Design and develop debug infrastructure for enabling quick diagnosis of failures
• Design and develop applications to collect and analyze diagnostic data, debug logs and event data
• Develop unit and system firmware tests to ensure quality in both emulated and hardware environments
• Review system and board level specifications to ensure all FW features, verification, and diagnostic requirements are feasible and properly incorporated
• Develop processes to identify embedded system design issues early in the product development lifecycle
• Create Diagnostics and Built in Self-Test (BIST) software tools
• Drive issue resolution and product stability to enable predictable and high quality product development 

Qualifications

• REQUIRED 

• BS or MS degree in Computer/Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
• 7+ years of experience in embedded firmware development
• Strong programming experience and demonstrated proficiency in C/C++ for RTOS embedded systems
• Ability to analyze complex firmware & hardware issues
• Strong debugging skills using kernel mode debuggers and electrical circuit test equipment such as logic analyzers and bus analyzers
• Knowledge of software design, real-time operating systems, and hardware-software interfaces
• In-depth storage protocol experience including SAS, SCSI, PCIe, and NVMe, and NVMeoF
• Knowledge of BIOS and BMC firmware stacks
• Ability to read electrical specifications, identify potential issues/high risk areas, and recommend solutions

• SKILLS

• Demonstrated ability in creative problem solving and innovation
• Meets goals with little direction and supervision
• Strong team player, effective communication skills, and highly motivated
• Knowledge of agile development and self-managed development teams from design to production

Additional Information

Equal Employment Opportunity
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)