HDD Servo Processing Subsystem Architecture Lead - San Jose, United States

Originally posted 13 May 2026 by the employer. Relisted by the employer on 30 September 2026.

About the role

Western Digital is seeking a technical leader for the US HDD servo firmware development team to lead the strategic vision and execution of the servo subsystem firmware architecture for HDD products with multiple concurrent data streams and multi-actuator control. The role defines platform strategy balancing technical feasibility, schedules, power envelopes, and cost constraints.

What you'll do

- Define and implement HDD servo firmware covering real-time motion control, parameter management, microarchitecture, instruction set architecture, and associated toolchains in collaboration with SoC architecture and recording systems teams. - Lead hardware-software co-design of firmware platform architecture, including core control-loop implementations, multi-cluster and multi-actuator orchestration, and deterministic real-time performance across SoC generations. - Coordinate SoC microarchitecture decisions affecting servo compute, such as core count, memory hierarchy, interconnect design, and dynamic control accelerators, ensuring FPGA prototypes and accelerator designs map into production-ready firmware. - Manage servo compute resource allocation and budgeting, including instruction and data memory allocation, processor cycle limits, and regression thresholds via continuous integration practices. - Direct the evolution of the servo firmware tools ecosystem to support multi-cluster, multi-stream characterization, and debugging. - Communicate technical concepts, architectural trade-offs, and strategic recommendations across distributed international development teams and senior management.

What you'll need

- Bachelor's degree in computer engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or equivalent degree and professional experience. - 10+ years of professional experience in embedded architecture and development, with a specific focus on real-time control, storage technology, or related servo control applications. - 5+ years of experience in senior technical leadership roles. - Proficiency in digital signal processing and real-time systems development. - Demonstrated experience with FPGA and/or ASIC design for embedded applications. - Proficiency in C/C++ programming and compiler toolchains, alongside familiarity with hardware-software co-design.

Nice to have

- Master's degree or PhD with expertise in real-time, multi-core computing platform architecture, or relevant professional certification in embedded systems or real-time architecture. - Proficiency in servo control theory, including loop design, stability analysis, and performance optimization. - Familiarity with MATLAB, Simulink, and simulation tools such as Renode. - Experience with storage technology standards and design-for-manufacturability principles.

Skills: servo real-time compute, firmware architecture, SoC microarchitecture, multi-actuator control, real-time systems