Optical Design Sr. Engineer

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

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401(k)

Employee stock purchase plan

Health savings account

Dependent care

Healthcare spending accounts

Job summary

Seagate Technology in Bloomington is seeking a skilled engineer to advance HAMR head concepts, optimize NFT designs, and evaluate design/process tradeoffs with wafer and test teams. You will use analytical and numerical models to improve understanding and guide cross-functional teams.

The role requires collaboration across design, wafer processing, and test groups, with a focus on innovative solutions in a rapidly evolving storage technology space.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s in engineering field + 5+ yrs, or Master’s +3+, or PhD +0+ yrs, or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Identify and invent concepts to improve HAMR recording head performance.
• Optimize NFT designs to improve performance and reliability.
• Collaborate with wafer process team to prototype ideas and evaluate tradeoffs.
• Work with test team to characterize new devices and develop test methods.
• Use analytical tools and models to improve HAMR understanding and communicate findings.

Skills

Near-field optics

Plasmonic design

Waveguide optics

Device physics

Integrated optical design

Optical modeling tools

Python

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Master’s degree in engineering

PhD in engineering or related field

Tools

COMSOL

Lumerical

RSoft

FDTD

Job description

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 2026SPIE Prism Awardin theOptical Materials and Componentscategory.

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.

• eligibility to participate in discretionary bonus program
• medical
• dental
• vision
• life insurance
• short- and long-term disability
• 401(k)
• employee stock purchase plan
• health savings account
• dependent care
• healthcare spending accounts

• 12 holidays
• flexible time off provided pursuant to Seagate policy
• a minimum of 48 hours of paid sick leave
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave

Location: Normandale, United States
Travel: Up to 10%

With more than four decades of storage innovation, Seagate empowers humanity to thrive in the data age and helps people and businesses navigate the ever-expanding data landscape.

We craft precision-engineered, cutting-edge solutions that help the world store and manage exponential data growth.

Seagate is powered by our talented andpassionate workforce of 29,000 employees across the globe who embody our core values: integrity, innovation, and inclusion. Striving towards excellence every single day, we show up with these values for our customers, business partners, shareholders, and communities alike.

Join us and get inspired to make a difference in the datasphere!

Seagate is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital status, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, military and veteran status, or other status protected by applicable law. We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. EEO Know Your Rights Poster

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