Contamination Control Engineer Jobs in California

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Western Digital is seeking a Mechanical Engineer with a minimum of 5 years of experience to design, develop, and validate mechanical components and assemblies for our Hard Disk Drive (HDD) product portfolio and data storage solutions. The engineer in this position will drive precision mechanical design for head-disk assemblies (HDA), actuators, base castings, and enclosures while meeting stringent performance and reliability requirements.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• HDD-Specific Design & Development
  • Design precision mechanical components for HDD systems:
  • Head Stack Assembly (HSA) including actuators, flex circuits, voice coil motors
  • Base casting and top cover assemblies
  • Spindle motor integration and mounting systems
  • Shock dampening and vibration isolation structures
  • Breather filters and contamination control features
  • Develop parts using advanced CAD (SolidWorks/NX) with tight tolerances
• Use geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) for drawings and 3D models to communicate ideal part with allowable variation to meet functional requirements.
• Design for ultra-clean operation environments (Class 10/100 cleanroom)
• Use 3D printing and other rapid prototyping processes to conduct design validation testing.

Analysis & Simulation:

• Perform FEA on structural components (shock resistance, stiffness optimization)
• Conduct modal analysis for resonance avoidance in actuator systems
• Execute tolerance stack-up analysis for critical assemblies

Testing & Validation:

• Design test fixtures and develop test protocols for design validation.
• Execute environmental testing for shock, vibration, and thermal cycling
• Drive failure mode analysis and implement corrective actions (FMEA, root cause analysis)

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Partner with recording heads, media, firmware, and servo teams for system integration.
• Interface with suppliers on specifications and quality.

REQUIRED

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering
• Expertise in Precision Mechanical Design, preferably in HDD industry with proven track record delivering products
• Experience with high-volume consumer electronics or medical devices
• Must have experience with head-disk interface (HDI) and aerodynamics
• Knowledge of actuator dynamics and servo positioning systems
• Experience with contamination control and particle management
• Awareness of magnetic recording fundamentals

SKILLS

• Manufacturing: Deep knowledge of die casting, precision machining, MIM, stamping
• Metrology: CMM programming, optical measurement systems, surface profilometry
• Materials: Aluminum alloys, stainless steel, and engineering polymers for HDD applications
• GD&T: Advanced application for tight-tolerance assemblies
• CAD: Advanced proficiency in SolidWorks
• Analysis: FEA tools, modal analysis, shock/vibration simulation
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
• Excellent communication
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced development environment

Western Digital is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate against any applicant or employee based on their race, color, ancestry, religion (including religious dress and grooming standards), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), gender (including a person’s gender identity, gender expression, and gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth), age, national origin, sexual orientation, medical condition, marital status (including domestic partnership status), physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, protected medical and family care leave, Civil Air Patrol status, military and veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. We also prohibit harassment of any individual on any of the characteristics listed above. Our non-discrimination policy applies to all aspects of employment. We comply with the laws and regulations set forth in the "Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster. Our pay transparency policy is available here.

Western Digital thrives on the power and potential of diversity. As a global company, we believe the most effective way to embrace the diversity of our customers and communities is to mirror it from within. We believe the fusion of various perspectives results in the best outcomes for our employees, our company, our customers, and the world around us. We are committed to an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive through a sense of belonging, respect and contribution.

Western Digital is committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can successfully navigate our careers website and our hiring process. Please contact us at jobs.accommodations@wdc.com to advise us of your accommodation request. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.

Based on our experience, we anticipate that the application deadline will be 08/13/2026 (3 months from posting), although we reserve the right to close the application process sooner if we hire an applicant for this position before the application deadline. If we are not able to hire someone from this role before the application deadline, we will update this posting with a new anticipated application deadline.

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Compensation & Benefits Details

• An employee’s pay position within the salary range may be based on several factors including but not limited to (1) relevant education; qualifications; certifications; and experience; (2) skills, ability, knowledge of the job; (3) performance, contribution and results; (4) geographic location; (5) shift; (6) internal and external equity; and (7) business and organizational needs.
• The salary range is what we believe to be the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting.  We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and this range is only applicable for jobs to be performed in California, Colorado, New York or remote jobs that can be performed in California, Colorado and New York.  This range may be modified in the future.
• If your position is non-exempt, you are eligible for overtime pay pursuant to company policy and applicable laws.  You may also be eligible for shift differential pay, depending on the shift to which you are assigned.

• You will be eligible to be considered for bonuses under either WD’s Short Term Incentive Plan (“STI Plan”) or the Sales Incentive Plan (“SIP”) which provides incentive awards based on Company and individual performance, depending on your role and your performance. You may be eligible to participate in our annual Long-Term Incentive (LTI) program, which consists of restricted stock units (RSUs) or cash equivalents, pursuant to the terms of the LTI plan. Please note that not all roles are eligible to participate in the LTI program, and not all roles are eligible for equity under the LTI plan. RSU awards are also available to eligible new hires, subject to WD's Standard Terms and Conditions for Restricted Stock Unit Awards.

• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid vacation time; paid sick leave; medical/dental/vision insurance; life, accident and disability insurance; tax-advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts; employee assistance program; other voluntary benefit programs such as supplemental life and AD&D, legal plan, pet insurance, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity; tuition reimbursement; transit; the Applause Program; employee stock purchase plan; and the WD Savings 401(k) Plan.
• Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole discretion, consistent with the law.

Notice To Candidates: Please be aware that WD and its subsidiaries will never request payment as a condition for applying for a position or receiving an offer of employment. Should you encounter any such requests, please report it immediately to WD Ethics Helpline or email compliance@wdc.com.