Optical Design Sr. Engineer

Seagate Technology; BLOOMINGTON (MN); On-site; USD 92,000 - 132,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site café

Fitness center and wellness programs

Indoor walking path and relaxation/med

Cultural events and community outreach

Job summary

Seagate Technology is seeking a skilled engineer to advance Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) head technologies. You will work on integrated optical designs, including NFT and plasmonic components, using tools like COMSOL and Lumerical to push performance and reliability.

You will collaborate across design, wafer processing and test teams, applying analytical methods and experimental data to deliver next-generation photonic-magnetic solutions and drive innovation in a fast-evolving field.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field with 5+ years of experience, or Master’s with 3+ years, or PhD with 0+ years, or equivalent experience and education.
• Experience with near-field optics, plasmonic, waveguide optics and device physics is required.
• Expertise in integrated optical component design and analysis is expected.
• Proficiency with optical modeling tools (COMSOL, Lumerical, RSoft, FDTD) is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Identify and invent concepts to improve HAMR recording head performance.
• Optimize NFT designs to enhance performance and reliability.
• Collaborate with designers and wafer process teams to prototype devices and evaluate tradeoffs.
• Characterize new devices with standard tests and develop novel test methodologies.
• Use analytical models and experimental data to improve HAMR understanding and communicate findings to product, process and test teams.

Skills

Near-field optics

Plasmonic optics

Waveguide optics

Device physics

Integrated optical component design

Analytical thinking

Independent work

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Master’s degree in engineering or related field

PhD in related field

Tools

COMSOL

Lumerical

RSoft

FDTD

Job description

About Our Group

Our technology development group designs Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) heads for future products. We design integrated optics that delivers light from a laser to a Near-Field Transducer (NFT), and design the plasmonic NFT that focuses the laser light down to a spot size 10’s of nanometers in diameter (10x smaller than the diffraction limit). We also design the magnetic circuit that applies a >2 Tesla, GHz magnetic field within nanometers of the NFT’s optical spot. This “leading-edge photonic and magnetic integration” designed by our group won the 2026 SPIE Prism Award in the Optical Materials and Components category.

About Our Group

Our technology development group designs Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) heads for future products. We design integrated optics that delivers light from a laser to a Near-Field Transducer (NFT), and design the plasmonic NFT that focuses the laser light down to a spot size 10’s of nanometers in diameter (10x smaller than the diffraction limit). We also design the magnetic circuit that applies a >2 Tesla, GHz magnetic field within nanometers of the NFT’s optical spot. This “leading-edge photonic and magnetic integration” designed by our group won the 2026 SPIE Prism Award in the Optical Materials and Components category.

About The Role - You Will

• Help identify and invent concepts that will improve HAMR recording head performance
• Optimize NFT designs to improve performance and reliability
• Work closely with other designers and the wafer process team to build your ideas into real devices, which will require evaluating design/process tradeoffs and optimizations
• Work with other designers and the test team to characterize the new devices, which will require utilizing standard tests and developing novel test methodologies
• Use analytical tools, numerical models and experimental data to improve HAMR understanding and then communicate this new understanding to other teams, such as the product, wafer processing and test teams

About You

• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams
• Work independently with minimal supervision
• Strong problem solver with an innovative mindset
• Demonstrate agility and adaptability in a rapidly evolving industry

Your Experience Includes

• Experience with near-field optics, plasmonic, waveguide optics and device physics
• Expertise in integrated optical component design and analysis
• Experience with optical modeling design tools (e.g. COMSOL, Lumerical, RSoft, FDTD)
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering related field (i.e. Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, Computer Engineering, Materials, Physics, or Information Technology) and 5+ years of experience or master’s degree in the same and 3+ years’ experience or PhD and 0+ years’ experience or equivalent experience and education.

You Might Also Have

• Experience in failure analysis, data analysis, wafer processing techniques, image analysis, and six sigma tools (e.g. JMP, Python) are a plus

Location:

Our Normandale campus spans two suburbs, Edina and Bloomington, and serves as the Recording Head development and manufacturing arm of Seagate. Located in the heart of a bustling community, Seagate offers an on-site café, or if you prefer, you can drive to one of many restaurants just minutes away. Need to grab a gift over lunch time? Shopping is abundant in the area. If working out is your thing, the on-site fully equipped fitness center hosts wellness programs, outdoor activities, tournaments and group workouts. Looking for something more laid back? Reset in one of our meditation rooms, or simply take a walk around our indoor walking path. On-site cultural festivals, celebrations and community volunteer opportunities also abound.

The estimated base salary range for this position is $92,310.00 - $131,994.00. The individual salary is based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

Seagate offers comprehensive benefits to its eligible employees, including, but not limited to, , eligibility to participate in discretionary bonus program, medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, short-and long-term disability, 401(k), employee stock purchase plan, health savings account, dependent care, and healthcare spending accounts. Seagate also offers paid time off, including 12 holidays, flexible time off provided pursuant to Seagate policy, a minimum of 48 hours of paid sick leave, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave. The benefits for this position are based on a full‑time schedule for a full calendar year and may differ depending on work location.

Location: Normandale, United States

Travel: Up to 10%