Originally posted 11 November 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As an Applications Engineer on the HDD validation team, you will ensure drive platforms meet standards for reliability, performance, and compatibility across customer configurations. The position is part of the company's early career development program for engineers with approximately 0–2+ years of experience.
What you'll do
- Design and develop comprehensive test plans to systematically identify firmware bugs, performance regressions, and reliability issues across drive platforms.
- Execute test cases, analyze failures using diagnostic tools, document root causes, and track issues through resolution with clear traceability.
- Partner with firmware developers and project team members to align on test priorities, validate fixes, and resolve critical issues.
- Facilitate test result reviews with engineering teams and present technical findings to stakeholders.
- Identify and coordinate hardware, lab resources, and test infrastructure needed to support validation efforts.
- Contribute to process improvements, automation opportunities, and test coverage enhancements.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
- Approximately 0–2+ years of relevant professional experience.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
- Oral and written communication skills to collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams.
Nice to have
- Familiarity with HDD firmware testing.
- Experience with test planning and defect tracking.
- Experience with scripting/automation tools such as Python, shell scripts, or AI.
Skills: HDD firmware testing, test planning, failure analysis, validation
More semiconductor jobs: Western Digital jobs · Silicon validation jobs
First seen in our index 0 days ago, well below the 42-day median for Post-Silicon Validation roles.
Post-Silicon Validation · Silicon Validation
|
Open roles in category
467
|
Median days since first seen
42 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$168k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Western Digital | All employers we track in this specialty (467 roles · 67 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 2 | 467 |
| Open roles in the wider Silicon Validation & Test family | 17 | 2429 · 121 employers |
| Median days since first seen | 22 d | 42 d (+20 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | n/a | $168k |
Skills observed across this category: HDD firmware testing, test planning, failure analysis, validation
Who's hiring in this category
- AMD · 62 open roles · median 42 d
- Qualcomm · 41 open roles · median 39 d
- Micron Technology · 31 open roles · median 49 d
- Apple · 29 open roles · median 19 d
- NVIDIA · 26 open roles · median 42 d
- Microchip Technology · 23 open roles · median 88 d
How we counted: 467 open Post-Silicon Validation (Silicon Validation) roles from 67 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 11 Nov 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there, and is counted in the wider Silicon Validation & Test family row. Days are counted from when our index first saw each posting, not from the employer's original posting date.