Job Description

At Western Digital, our vision is to power global innovation and push the boundaries of technology to make what you thought was once impossible, possible.

At our core, Western Digital is a company of problem solvers. People achieve extraordinary things given the right technology. For decades, we’ve been doing just that—our technology helped people put a man on the moon and capture the first-ever picture of a black hole.

We offer an expansive portfolio of technologies, HDDs, and platforms for business, creative professionals, and consumers alike under our Western Digital®, WD®, WD_BLACK™, and SanDisk® Professional brands.

We are a key partner to some of the largest and highest-growth organizations in the world. From enabling systems to make cities safer and more connected, to powering the data centers behind many of the world’s biggest companies and hyperscale cloud providers, to meeting the massive and ever-growing data storage needs of the AI era, Western Digital is fueling a brighter, smarter future.

Today’s exceptional challenges require your unique skills. Together, we can build the future of data storage.

Job Description

Western Digital is seeking an intern to join the Advanced Process Control team in Fremont/San Jose, CA. As an Applications Engineering intern at Western Digital, you will help analyze and optimize production process recipes using AI-driven techniques, specifically LLMs, to improve yield, reduce variability and enhance process control systems. You will work closely with our team of experienced engineers, gain hands-on experience and exposure to complex wafer manufacturing processes.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Developing and deploying LLM-based algorithms to analyze wafer process manufacturing recipes and identify key process parameters for Advanced Process Control and Anomaly Detection.
• Collaborate with process engineers and data scientists to extract insights from recipe contents and recipe data, including input and output parameters.
• Leverage LLMs to enhance predictive models for process optimization, anomaly detection and automated decision making in wafer manufacturing fab.
• Work on integrating LLM-based systems with existing Advanced Process Control framework, supporting real-time decision making for recipe optimization.
• Present findings, reports and recommendations on model performance and process improvements.

Qualifications

REQUIRED

• Current students seeking a bachelor’s degree in data science, applied mathematics, computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, or related field with a graduation date between December 2025 and June 2026.
• Right to work in the US without requiring Western Digital to commence or sponsor an immigration case to employ you at any point in the future required. (for example, H-1B or other employment- based immigration case)
• Candidates who will not require relocation to Fremont or San Jose, CA will be preferred.

TECHNICAL

• Strong knowledge of Large Language Models (LLM), NLP, and machine learning techniques with a focus on practical applications.
• Ability to approach problems logically and solve complex problems by uncovering actionable insights.
• Critical thinking and analytical skills with passion in applying AI to real-world challenges in process optimization.
• A strong grasp of data structures and algorithms is essential for solving complex problems and optimizing models.
• Well-versed with one or more languages like Python, Java, C#, C++ with hands-on experience using machine learning frameworks.
• Familiarity with AI model training, validation and performance metrics.
• Familiarity with data queries, data processing and database management systems like Oracle,
• MSSQL, MySQL.

SKILLS

• Experience working on group projects or in a team environment.
• Ability to collaborate with team members, listen to feedback, and contribute positively to
• discussions.
• Eagerness to learn new technologies and programming languages as per project requirements.
• Ability to adapt to different tasks and projects as the team’s needs evolve.
• Good communication skills are important for collaborating with team members, stakeholders, and
• presenting technical results and concepts to diverse audiences.

Additional Information

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 3/14/2025 , 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 participate in Western Digital’s Short-Term Incentive (STI) Plan, 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 Western Digital’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 Western Digital 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.

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