# Principal Test & Characterization Engineer — Advanced Photonic and Semiconductor Systems at Western Digital

- Company: Western Digital
- What the company does: WD is building the infrastructure behind the AI-driven data economy. As AI scales, so does data. Every interaction, every model, every system generates data that must be stored, managed, and made accessible over time. That’s where we come in. Backed by Sequoia.
- Company website: https://www.westerndigital.com/
- Type: Startups
- Level: Principal and up
- Location: Ulm, BW
- Work setup: On-site
- Posted: 2026-10-05
- Apply by: 2026-11-23
- Apply: https://jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternDigital/744000153493367?utm_source=1752vc&utm_medium=careers
- Page: https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/western-digital-principal-test-and-characterization-engineer-advanced-photonic-a/

## About the role

We are looking for a Senior Test & Characterization Engineer to develop and operate advanced experimental platforms for next-generation device technologies. This role combines hands-on laboratory work, automated measurement infrastructure, large-scale data analysis, and AI-assisted characterization workflows. You will build the systems that transform experimental devices into actionable engineering insight. Found on 1752vc Careers, the job board for startup and VC roles.

## What they're looking for

- Develop and operate advanced electrical, optical, and electro-optical characterization platforms
- Design and build experimental setups including optics, motion systems, thermal control, RF instrumentation, imaging systems, and automated data acquisition
- Automate complex measurement flows using Python and modern software infrastructure
- Perform detailed device characterization, analysis, and correlation across wafer-level and packaged-device measurements
- Develop scalable data-analysis pipelines and visualization frameworks
- Apply AI/ML techniques to large experimental datasets for anomaly detection, trend analysis, classification, and predictive insights


Source: 1752vc Careers, https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/western-digital-principal-test-and-characterization-engineer-advanced-photonic-a/