Principal Engineer, Hardware Development Engineering

Company Description

Sandisk understands how people and businesses consume data and we relentlessly innovate to deliver solutions that enable today's needs and tomorrow's next big ideas. With a rich history of groundbreaking innovations in Flash and advanced memory technologies, our solutions have become the beating heart of the digital world we're living in and that we have the power to shape.

Sandisk meets people and businesses at the intersection of their aspirations and the moment, enabling them to keep moving and pushing possibility forward. We do this through the balance of our powerhouse manufacturing capabilities and our industry-leading portfolio of products that are recognized globally for innovation, performance and quality.

Sandisk has two facilities recognized by the World Economic Forum as part of the Global Lighthouse Network for advanced 4IR innovations. These facilities were also recognized as Sustainability Lighthouses for breakthroughs in efficient operations. With our global reach, we ensure the global supply chain has access to the Flash memory it needs to keep our world moving forward.

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

Additional Information

Sandisk is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not…