Senior Spintronics Development Engineer

Job Description

You will be part of an innovative, fast-paced team that is responsible for researching and developing materials and thin film stacks for spintronic devices in next generation read/write hard disk drive heads.  Your expertise in this area will help develop and implement innovative solutions for complex technical issues and shape WD’s technical strategy.  You will be expected to accomplish goals and objectives independently and provide regular technical advice and direction to technical teams and management.

Responsibilities:

• Deliver next generation spintronic thin film stacks for magnetic sensors and transducers alongside a team of process development engineers and technicians.
  • Collaborate with manufacturing and equipment engineering counterparts on process transfer, additional tool qualifications with well-justified specifications and tolerances.
  • Align with Design, Characterization, and Program teams to understand device requirements and define metrics for sensor stack processes to ensure meeting product requirements on both performance and reliability.
  • Work closely with other module and integration leaders to develop new process building blocks.
  • Define read sensor and transducer improvement roadmaps including materials, stacks and related fabrication equipment and characterization metrology in alignment with Manufacturing/Production and Design/Program teams.
• Process development for next generation magnetic sensors and transducers.
  • Design recipes on process equipment.
  • Support and run development experiments on process equipment.
  • Perform, measure, and analyze DOEs to validate new processes.
  • Analyze and present results in engineering review meetings.
• Improve existing metrology and develop new measurement techniques.
  • Work with MFG/equipment engineering to introduce new metrology tools and measurements.
  • Transfer new metrology tools and measurements into production.
• Perform electrical measurements on read sensors and transducers to characterize performance.
  • Write scripts for tool automation and data analysis.
  • Collaborate with integration and process teams to develop and fabricate new test devices for next gen read sensors and transducers.
• Utilize and analyze data from databases and identify process and yield optimization opportunities.
  • Conduct aggressive experiment management and wafer tracking.
  • Perform prompt failure analysis and defect resolution.
  • Conduct readiness reviews with FMEA and tolerance studies.
• Prepare DOEs to drive the improvement activities.
  • Create and maintain detailed documentation of engineering changes.
  • Work closely with other module and integration leaders to develop new process building blocks.

Qualifications

Required:

• Ph.D. degree in Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fields.
• 10+ years’ experience working on magnetic materials and thin film deposition.

Skills:

• Excellent written and communication skills.
• Ability to set and model high standards for effective interactions, often across groups.
• Self-motivated and proactive with the ability to effectively multi-task and work collaboratively in a fast-paced, team environment.
• Ability to understand and quantify project risks with impact and help prevent problems that may cross disciplines.
• Leadership skills and abilities to influence decisions and results.