Media Qualification Engineer

NetApp•Wichita, KS

About The Position

At NetApp, innovation extends beyond software and firmware to the very core of our hardware and system design. Our drive qualification team plays a critical role in ensuring that every storage product we release meets the highest standards of quality, reliability, and performance. As a Media Qualification Engineer on our team, you’ll be part of a group responsible for all phases of drive qualification and release. Our mission is to deliver timely, accurate testing and certification for NetApp storage products—enabling our customers to trust their data to our solutions. You’ll collaborate with both internal and external partners, drive the execution of qualification projects, and help us maintain our leadership in the industry. This role is ideal for someone who is creative, organized, a quick learner, and motivated to deliver results in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Requirements

Experience executing and documenting test cases, with a strong attention to detail and quality.
Ability to develop and review test plans, analyze logs, and perform root cause analysis.
Strong organizational skills, with experience managing multiple projects and coordinating team activities.
Effective verbal and written communication skills; able to clearly explain technical issues and risk to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Demonstrated ability to learn quickly and adapt to new technologies and processes.
Collaborative, self-motivated, and able to work independently to resolve issues and drive projects forward.

Nice To Haves

Background in storage hardware (HDD, SSD, NVMe) and drive qualification processes.
Working knowledge of Linux environments.
Understanding of basic networking, RAID, and storage principles.
Proficiency with JIRA, Confluence, or similar tools for tracking and documentation.
Comfortable leveraging AI tools to enhance productivity, research, troubleshooting, or process improvement; innovative use of AI is a plus.
Exposure to scripting (Python), especially for debugging and log analysis.
Experience using storage protocol analyzers (e.g., NVMe or SAS analyzer units) for debugging, validation, or performance analysis.

Responsibilities

Execute automated and manual test cases for storage hardware across multiple concurrent projects.
Review and analyze test logs to identify issues, verify results, and ensure accuracy for all assigned test activities.
Develop new test cases and contribute to test planning and design for new hardware qualifications and firmware updates.
Perform root cause analysis and debugging of issues found during testing, collaborating with engineering teams as needed.
Guide and coordinate project execution as a lead, maintaining project schedules and ensuring high-quality deliverables.
Represent the team in project meetings, clearly communicating issues encountered, risk levels, and progress to stakeholders.
Continuously seek opportunities to improve team processes and efficiency.
Learn and apply knowledge of new systems and technologies, understanding the rationale behind test strategies and expected behaviors.
Proactively resolve blockers and challenges using available resources and technical judgment.