Storage Device Engineer (SDE)

Description

Job Description In support of Storage Device Engineering (SDE), you will work as part of a team responsible for all phases required to match drive vendor offerings to Customer requirements including the integration of new Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and/or Solid State Drives (SSD) designs into Storage Products. As part of the Research and Development function, the overall focus of this work is on product quality, cost, and timetomarket. This coordinative technical leadership role relies on others to be successful. This role is in Wichita, KS. It is a bridging function between remote AWF resources doing the daytoday qualification work and customer personnel (mostly Wichita) as well as the main communication path to drive vendors. This role will orchestrate as much of the New Product Introduction life cycle as practical. This includes (in concert with remote AWF and local Wichita resources) analysis of the drive product via concept and design reviews, leading the definition of a test matrix, qualification test activity oversight, reviewing the results, working with vendors to resolve bugs found by remote AWF, oversight of regression testing, and documentation release. Coordination with extended customer resources via a Customer program manager is a large part of the job.This position requires an individual to be creative, intellectually curious, teamoriented, technology savvy, driven to produce results, and demonstrate the ability to work efficiently with remote resources. Essential Functions HDD/SSD Firmware Qualification The candidates primary responsibility is to lead the remote AWF team in the delivery of drive qualification services as well as to provide a local communication path between customer/drive vendor personnel and the remote AWF team. This candidate will be responsible for schedule adherence of the published qualification schedule while managing HDD/SSD FW issues to resolution; present, review and assess all results with the SDE Technical Lead from testing at both NetApp and the HDD/SSD supplier; lead all HDD/SSD FW discussions during the qualification as the single point of contact and owner for all HDD/SSD FW questions and issue resolution for the projects to which he is assigned. Qualification Project Management The candidate will be part of the crossfunctional team to integrate new HDDs/SSDs into NetApps system environment and responsible for executing to the published project schedule while communicating status, develop overall project progress against the POR schedules. HDD/SSD Supplier Interface Manage the progress of the FW testing and development efforts of HDD/SDD Supplier(s) during the PreQual (supplier) and Qualification (internal) phases of the NetApp HDD/SSD qualification process, drive the resolution of problems & the development and implementation of firmware changes with the HDD/SSD supplier into drives acceptable for shipment in Customer systems. Responsible for communication of the supplier FW testing progress into the overall Project Management status. Job Requirements Work collaboratively within a team environment of other engineers to meet aggressive goals and high quality standards Possesses sufficient technical knowledge and experience to pick up new expertise quickly with guidance from a technical leader Strong aptitude for learning new technologies A strong understanding of computer storage system concepts along with HDD/SDD device and SAS knowledge Strong debug and RCA skills Ability to estimate work completion required to build an overall predictable plan Follow standard engineering principles and practices Resourceful in applying creative ideas to solve problems Organize and provide guidance for the work of others Be central communication hub/single point of contact For Customer personnel, drive vendors, and remote AWF. Responsibility and Interaction Responsibility Lead the work of others on complex problems within a defined process but requiring analytical skills and creativity to manage the discovery, fix verification, and retirement of bugs found. Works with teams across the planet and between companies in problem solving and design efforts. Provide single point of contact/coordination/reporting between remote AWF, Customer and drive vendor personnel. Responsible for the work product of the remote AWF team in delivering drive qualification services Interaction Work effectively with staff to senior manager level employees within the function and the technical team on assigned projects. Also with employees in other companies (drive vendors) as required Work independently Successfully convey information to stakeholders at many levels related to the position Participate as a proactive contributor and subject matter expert on team projects Demonstrate favorable results through coaching and influencing others Education and Experience A minimum of 6 years of experience is required. 7 to 8 years of experience is preferred A Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science, a Master Degree, or a PhD; or equivalent experience is required Demonstrated ability to have completed multiple, moderately complex technical tasks.