Senior Staff Field Application Engineer

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Sandisk is seeking a high-caliber Senior Staff Field Application Engineer (FAE) to drive the technical execution, qualification, and deployment of our enterprise solid-state drive (eSSD) portfolio within one of our largest strategic Tier-1 OEM customer accounts. This key partner is a global leader in data center solutions and plays a massive, pivotal role in the industry's massive AI infrastructure build-out. Based locally in the Austin area, you will act as the principal technical liaison and internal customer advocate, bridging the gap between the OEM's advanced server/storage architects and SanDisk's cross-functional engineering teams. In this role, you will own the technical lifecycle of upcoming flagship enterprise programs-including next-generation eSSD architectural platforms-guiding them from initial concept validation through complex joint qualification phases to high-volume mass production Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Technical Leadership & Program Management Lead product architecture reviews (Concept & Design), Quarterly Technical Reviews (QTRs), and future technology roadmap alignments with key enterprise and AI infrastructure architects. Manage the technical milestones of the Joint Development Management (JDM) lifecycle across initial Design-In, rigorous Qualification, and sustaining engineering phases. Establish and maintain technical risk registries for new platform qualifications, ensuring clear visibility into program status, gating metrics, and mitigation paths. Drive critical technical alignment syncs between customer architecture teams and internal Firmware, ASIC, and Quality groups to ensure seamless platform integration. Qualification Execution, Engineering Support & Sustaining Activities Manage end-to-end qualification milestones, executing deep-dives across Program Concept Reviews, Design Reviews, and early evaluation risk assessments. Collaborate deeply with internal engineering and customer teams to review all hardware, firmware, security, and mechanical interfaces, managing ongoing waiver tracking and feature alignments. Perform hands-on failure analysis (FA) within local customer environments and labs using high-speed protocol analyzers to isolate and resolve complex Firmware bugs, PCIe/NVMe protocol issues, and data integrity anomalies. Act as the primary technical point of contact to rapidly triage, contain, and resolve complex field issues and high-severity customer escalations Champion customer requirements internally, prioritizing hardware and firmware fixes to directly protect the customer's development schedules, testing milestones, and volume-ready rollouts. Required: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline. Extensive experience in field application engineering, systems engineering, or technical product development within the storage ecosystem (SSD, HDD, or Flash controller industries). Demonstrated background working with enterprise-level server and storage systems, including system telemetry, RAID controller configurations, and power/thermal tuning constraints within dense data center environments. Solid track record of leading a customer through a structured joint qualification lifecycle (such as JDM frameworks) from initial design-win to sustaining fleet health management. Established technical relationships and credibility within major enterprise OEM engineering, architecture, or qualification teams. Advanced SSD & Storage Architecture Experience Strong understanding in 3D NAND (TLC/QLC) technology mechanics, including Flash Translation Layer (FTL), Wear Leveling, and Garbage Collection algorithms. Advanced command of NVMe/PCIe storage protocols and performance determinism metrics tailored for demanding workloads (QoS, throughput consistency, and background operation interference ). Familiarity with mechanical and electrical integrations for modern data center form factors, including U.2/U.3 and EDSFF (E3) form factors. Solid understanding of enterprise storage security requirements, including TCG Opal and FIPS encryption specifications. System-Level & Ecosystem Knowledge Strong proficiency in high-performance Server and Storage portfolios, target enterprise/AI use-cases, hardware RAID controller interactions, and advanced system telemetry mechanisms. Competency in tuning device power states and thermal throttling algorithms to integrate seamlessly with dense chassis layout constraints, server node form factors, and rigorous airflow profiles. Practical understanding of hardware reliability indicators, including Annualized Failure Rate (AFR), Defective Parts Per Million (DPPM), and Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) to properly evaluate fleet health. Sandisk 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 a

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