Staff Engineer, Equipment Engineering

Job Description

Job Description

Company Description

At WD, 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, WD 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®, and WD_BLACK™.

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, WD 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

The Staff Engineer, Equipment Engineering must have strong equipment background and experience maintaining specific tools on a wafer manufacturing production line in a class 100 cleanroom environment.  The successful candidate will be able to work with minimal supervision, take initiative and collaborate effectively.  They will demonstrate a willingness to learn, be flexible, creative problem solving, exemplary communication skills and an ability to think on their feet. Candidates must be flexible with work schedule and overtime, as required by the team.  They are responsible for review and interface with cross functional disciplines on specifications, projects, equipment reliability and throughput.  Review, analysis and investigation of equipment related scrap, provide root cause and effective corrective actions.  Being the in-house technical equipment expert, they are hands-on technical individuals with strong troubleshooting skills to help bring the tool up efficiently and effectively upon down-tool escalation.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Support maintenance with equipment troubleshooting in conjunction with both scheduled and unscheduled down time events.
• Troubleshoot and repair complex unscheduled failures to root cause and document for future reference.
• Provide inputs to Engineering, and / or maintenance team for improving PM cycle-time, tool availability, quality/workmanship, reduce wafer scrap and cost of ownership.
• Provide Technical On-the-Job training for maintenance personnel.
• Support Equipment Engineering Team to define and write preventive maintenance procedures, BKM’s, OCAP’s, and / or new equipment parts inventory and stocking.
• Support engineering with scrap mitigation, obsolescence, increase equipment OEE, and other equipment KPI’s.
• Monitor Artist, SPC, Spotfire, PdM for assigned equipment improvement.
• Support engineering projects, upgrades, retrofits, and installations.

Qualifications

REQUIRED:

• BS plus relevant experience in engineering field.
• Technical degree in Electronics, Military experience, or Semiconductor Industries experience. 
• Must have excellent mechanical and electrical aptitude.
• Experience in Vacuum Technologies.
• Ability to read electrical schematic diagrams and assembly drawings.
• Understanding of failure mechanisms, ability to isolate determine root cause and repair.
• Proficient in MS Windows Software (Word/Excel/Power Point/Outlook) & Forum Notes
• Effective team player with proven relationship building & communication skills (written/oral), including cross-functionally with Maintenance, Manufacturing, Engineering, Peers, Management, Customers, and Suppliers.
• Knowledge of control systems and/or PLC (Process Logic Control)
• Ability to work overtime and weekends as required.

SKILLS:

• Senior Level equipment technical experience.
• Robust background in electronics and mechanical troubleshooting, vacuum theory and RF/Microwave Plasma Etching.
• Strong experience utilizing troubleshooting equipment, multimeters, oscilloscopes, and specialized alignment tooling etc.
• Team player able to negotiate cross functional disciplines.
• Leadership qualities and project management skills.
• Preferred RF/DC Plasma Equipment: Veeco HRPVD, Veeco PVD-HR, Ferrotec MeiVac 602 PVD

Salary Ranges: 106,600 - 142,100

Additional Information

WD 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.

WD 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.

WD 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 View email address on ziprecruiter.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 8/14/2026 (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

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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 WD’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 WD'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 WD 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 WD 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 WD Ethics Helpline or email View email address on ziprecruiter.com.