Senior Engineer, Customer Quality Engineering

Western Digital•Irvine, CA

About The Position

As a Senior Engineer in the Product Insights team , you will collect, analyze, and communicate product performance data from the field to help WD deliver world-class storage solutions. . You’re someone who enjoys solving puzzles and digging into the ‘why’ behind customer and field issues. You'll partner with Customer Quality Management (CQM), Engineering, and Quality teams to translate complex datasets into actionable insights that prevent issues, improve products, and enhance customer experience.

Requirements

Education: Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Statistics, Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
Experience: 3+ years in data analysis, product analytics, or quality engineering (storage industry preferred)
Technical Skills: Proficiency in SQL, Python, R, or similar analytics tools
Experience with BI platforms (Tableau, Power BI, Looker, etc.)
Strong Excel/Google Sheets skills for quick analysis
Familiarity with statistical methods and data modeling
Familiarity with programming fundamentals and the ability to leverage AI‑powered coding tools (e.g., Windsurf) to write, review, and modify code.
Domain Knowledge: Understanding of storage products (HDDs, SSDs) and SMART data (preferred)
Knowledge of quality processes (RMA, PAC, failure analysis) a plus
Communication: Ability to translate technical findings into business-relevant insights for diverse audiences.

Nice To Haves

Experience with telemetry systems, IoT data, or large-scale field data
Knowledge of machine learning / predictive analytics techniques
Familiarity with Western Digital products and customer segments
Background in manufacturing quality or reliability engineering
Fluency in Mandarin to be able to support our APAC teams.

Responsibilities

Analyze telemetry data, PAC (Product Analysis Center) reports, FIRs (Failure/Issue Reports), and RMA trends to identify quality issues and failure patterns
Build dashboards and visualizations to track product health metrics (e.g., failure rates, NTF rates, SMART attributes, vendor logs)
Generate regular reports and ad-hoc analyses for leadership, Engineering, and Sales teams
Use curiosity‑driven investigation to chase down unusual trends, unexpected behaviors, or anomalies in telemetry and RMA data.
Partner with CQM to prioritize customer quality issues and drive root cause investigations
Work with Engineering to validate product improvements and track effectiveness of corrective actions
Support Applications Engineering and Product Marketing with field performance data for new product introductions (NPI)
Act as a “data detective,” helping teams understand not just what happened, but why it happened.
Develop models to predict failure modes and identify at-risk product populations
Conduct cohort analysis to compare performance across firmware versions, regions, and customer segments
Proactively flag emerging issues before they impact customers at scale
Enhance data collection, storage, and analysis workflows
Drive standardization of metrics and reporting across product lines
Champion data quality and governance within the PI team

Benefits

Opportunity to impact product quality for millions of customers worldwide.
Collaborative culture with cross-functional exposure across WD
Access to cutting-edge data platforms and analytics tools
Professional development and growth within a newly formed, strategic organization
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
the Western Digital Savings 401(k) Plan