Mechanical Design Senior Staff Engineer

About our group:

The Advanced Mechanical Technologies team within Seagate's Advanced Heads Research & Development organization develops next-generation Head Gimbal Assemblies (HGA), flexure systems, suspensions, and micro-actuated positioning technologies that enable future recording density, performance, and reliability improvements. We work at the intersection of precision mechanics, piezoelectric actuation, structural dynamics, materials science, manufacturing, and controls engineering to solve nanometer-scale motion challenges in future HDD platforms.

As part of Seagate's global recording head development organization, our team collaborates across design, manufacturing, suppliers, materials, electronics, and system engineering disciplines to mature advanced technologies from research concepts through high-volume manufacturing.

About the role - you will:

Physics-Driven Mechanical Design
Own the design and development of Head Gimbal Assemblies (HGA), flexures, suspensions, and micro-actuated mechanical subsystems from concept through validation.

Develop novel mechanical solutions to challenges involving bandwidth, resonance, stiffness, coupling, damping, and robustness in precision motion systems.

Apply strong fundamentals in dynamics, structures, and actuation to guide design decisions where empirical rules or existing templates are insufficient.

Design solutions that simultaneously achieve performance, reliability, manufacturability, and cost objectives suitable for high-volume production environments

Model Development, Closure & Interpretation Build dynamic and structural FEA models to predict vibration, modal behavior, actuation response, and system interactions.

Develop, automate, and maintain reusable simulation methodologies and parametric modeling frameworks using ANSYS APDL, ANSYS Workbench, Hyper Works, MATLAB, or equivalent tools.

Use physical insight to define boundary conditions, material behavior, and model assumptions that ensure predictive simulation results.

Close models through experimental correlation, identifying where assumptions break down and refining them accordingly.

Interpret results beyond solver outputs by explaining why systems behave as they do and what must change to improve performance.

Experimental Validation & Correlation Design and execute experiments to validate dynamic behavior, including vibration, resonance, damping, and actuation performance.

Lead model-to-test correlation using LDV, oscilloscopes, function generators, NI data acquisition systems, and high-frequency instrumentation.

Translate model-hardware discrepancies into actionable engineering insight and design improvements.

Develop test methodologies that improve understanding of subsystem behavior and accelerate technology maturity.

Innovation, Technology Strategy & Intellectual Property Create novel mechanical architectures, actuation concepts, and subsystem innovations that enable future recording technologies and areal density scaling.

Generate and evaluate solutions to unresolved technical challenges where requirements, architectures, or modeling approaches are not fully defined.

Identify, develop, and protect intellectual property through invention disclosures, patent generation, and differentiated technology concepts.

Evaluate emerging technologies, materials, manufacturing approaches, and design concepts to influence future HGA technology roadmaps.

Mature concepts from exploratory research through feasibility demonstration and production-readiness assessment.

Technical Leadership Across Disciplines Serve as technical owner for cross-functional programs spanning R&D, manufacturing, suppliers, and global engineering teams.

Drive alignment across controls, materials, tribology, electronics, signal integrity, and manufacturing disciplines.

Resolve complex tradeoffs involving performance, manufacturability, reliability, yield, tolerance sensitivity, scalability, and cost.

Communicate technical maturity, risks, and engineering recommendations based on validated data and sound physical understanding.

Mentor engineers and contribute to technical best practices in modeling, testing, and mechanical system design.

About you:

Passionate about understanding physical behavior and solving challenging engineering problems through first-principles thinking.

Naturally curious and driven to determine why systems behave the way they do.

Comfortable creating solutions where requirements and architectures are not fully established.

Possess strong engineering…