HDD Teardown & Failure Analysis Engineer

WD; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

WD is seeking a Drive Teardown Failure Analysis Engineer to join the Hyperscale HDD Development Team in California. This hands‑on role identifies causes of HAMR and ePMR HDD failures through physical teardown, lab inspection, documentation, and collaboration with reliability and product teams.

The position is part of WD's early career development program, targeting candidates with 0–2+ years of experience. You will learn clean room procedures, perform FA analysis, document findings, and

Qualifications

• BS degree in Material Science, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Biology, or related field.
• Right to work in the US without WD sponsorship.
• Academic, internship, project-based, or research lab experience in a science or engineering environment.
• Strong organization, problem-solving, communication, teamwork, and documentation skills.
• Comfort working in a hands-on technical environment and learning clean room and lab procedures.
• Attention to detail and willingness to learn HDD teardown and failure analysis methods.

Responsibilities

• Perform hands-on HDD teardown during the product development phase in a Class 100 clean room environment.
• Review electrical failure analysis results and help determine the next course of investigation.
• Collect, interpret, and document possible failure causes and recommended next steps for additional FA characterization or analysis.
• Document findings in the FA database system and prepare clear failure analysis reports and conclusions for program teams.
• Partner with functional teams to prevent recurrence of similar issues and improve product reliability.
• Build proficiency in lab procedures, sample handling, technical documentation, and failure analysis workflows.

Skills

Hands-on

Problem solving

Communication

Teamwork

Documentation

Attention to detail

Education

BS degree in science/engineering

Job description

WD is seeking a Drive Teardown Failure Analysis Engineer to join the Hyperscale HDD Development Team in California. This hands‑on role identifies causes of HAMR and ePMR HDD failures through physical teardown, lab inspection, documentation, and collaboration with reliability and product teams.

The position is part of WD's early career development program, targeting candidates with 0–2+ years of experience. You will learn clean room procedures, perform FA analysis, document findings, and