Applications Engineer; Qual Product

Job Description

At Western Digital, our vision is to power global innovation and push the boundaries of technology to make what you thought was once impossible, possible.

We offer an expansive portfolio of technologies, HDDs, and platforms for business, creative professionals, and consumers alike under our Western Digital®, WD®, ™, and San Disk® Professional brands.

We are a key partner to some of the largest and highest‑growth organizations in the world, enabling systems to make cities safer and more connected, powering the data centers behind many of the world’s biggest companies and hyperscale cloud providers, and meeting the massive and ever‑growing data storage needs of the AI era. Together, we can build the future of data storage.

AE, Applications Engineer in HDD serves as the primary point of contact for OEM customers in Surveillance, Connected Home, and NAS applications, as well as for WDC internal Engineering and Marketing teams. Responsibilities include managing qualification plans, aligning product specifications and designs with customer requirements, tracking technical and design requirements, coordinating discussions with relevant teams, and driving actions to closure.

Key tasks: track all technical and design requirements from OEM customers and ensure timely review and incorporation into product design; coordinate discussions and negotiate with customers and engineering teams; manage qualification activities from specification alignment to qualification sample forecasting, open issue tracking, and action closures; lead discussions with Field Engineers for OEM product design; deliver qualification deliverables such as quality reports, product information, and FA reports;

manage BOM, factory process, technical reference manual, and customer label release; prepare deliverables ahead of new product qualification cycles.

• BS or higher in Engineering field required.
• Storage device background is required (HDD product experience preferred, Flash experience a bonus).
• Engineering educational background strongly desired.
• Minimum 2 years of customer interaction experience required.
• Flexible work hours to collaborate with teams in multiple time zones (worldwide).
• Result‑oriented mindset to drive actions is mandatory.
• Multi‑tasking capability required to achieve timely actions.
• Willingness to learn new things and adapt to new environments is mandatory.
• Fluent in English for business conversations;
  Mandarin and other languages are strong plus.
• Position preferred (but not mandatory) in Irvine with Pacific Standard Time option and minimal U.S. travel.

Western Digital is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate based on any protected characteristic. Our non‑discrimination policy applies to all aspects of employment. We also prohibit harassment of any individual on any of the characteristics listed.

We are committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can navigate our careers website and hiring process. For accommodation requests, please contact  and include the job title and requisition number.

Based on our experience, we anticipate that the Final date to receive applications will be 03‑24‑2026. We reserve the right to close the application process sooner if we hire an applicant for this position before the deadline.

• Employee pay is based on relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, performance, contribution, results, geographic location, shift, equity, and business needs.
• Salary range applies to jobs in California, Colorado, New York, or remote roles performed in those states; it may be modified in the future.
• Non‑exempt positions are eligible for overtime pay and may receive shift differential pay.
• Eligible for bonuses under Western Digital’s Short Term Incentive Plan or Sales Incentive Plan, and may participate in the Long‑Term Incentive Program (restricted stock units or cash equivalents). Not all roles are eligible for all incentive plans.
• Comprehensive benefits package…