Principal Engineer Hardware Development Engineering

Job Description

Join a team building next-generation flash memory platforms for AI inference , where performance, efficiency, and scalability are being redefined from the ground up. As part of the Emerging Technology Solutions group, we are pioneering new approaches using advanced flash technologies to unlock the next wave of AI performance.

This is not an incremental product—it’s an opportunity to work on cutting-edge system architecture , solve first-of-its-kind engineering problems , and directly influence how AI systems are built in the years ahead.

Essential duties and responsibilities

You will lead the end-to-end hardware development of advanced storage platforms designed for AI infrastructure

• Own full-cycle hardware design from architecture through schematic, layout, bring-up, validation, and qualification
• Drive form factor and PCB design for high-performance systems, including:
  • High-speed interfaces
  • Power delivery and integrity
  • Thermal and mechanical integration
• Work cross-functionally with ASIC, firmware, system architecture, and platform teams to optimize real-world AI workloads
• Develop and execute bring-up, validation, and debug strategies using advanced lab instrumentation
• Solve complex system challenges in:
  • Signal and power integrity
  • Performance tuning under real workloads
  • Reliability and manufacturability
• Lead debug, DOE, and root-cause analysis to push system performance and yield beyond conventional limits
• Partner with manufacturing and supply chain to transition cutting-edge designs into scalable products
• Mentor engineers and help define best practices for next-generation high-speed system design

This Role Is Unique

• AI-first design – Work on infrastructure purpose-built for AI inference, not legacy systems
• Architectural impact – Influence system-level design decisions, not just component-level execution
• Cutting-edge challenges – Tackle problems where industry solutions are still evolving
• High visibility – Direct impact on strategic products and future technology direction
• End-to-end ownership – From concept to production

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering
• 5–10+ years of experience in high-performance hardware design (SSD or related systems)
• Strong background in high-speed digital design (PCIe Gen5/Gen6, DDR5, or similar)
• Experience with:
  • Schematic and PCB design (Cadence Allegro/OrCAD or equivalent)
  • System bring-up, validation, and debug
  • Power delivery and signal integrity considerations
• Proven ability to debug complex system-level issues and drive them to resolution
• Strong communication skills and ability to work across cross-functional teams

Preferred

• Experience with next-generation interconnects (PCIe, CXL, switching architectures)
• Exposure to AI, data center, or high-performance compute platforms
• Familiarity with firmware/hardware interaction and system-level optimization
• Background in productization, manufacturing, or OEM enablement

Legal and EEO Statement

Sandisk 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.

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.
• You will be eligible to participate in Sandisk's Short-Term Incentive (STI) Plan, 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 Sandisk'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 Sandisk's 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.