Senior Security Firmware Validation Engineer

Summary

Join Western Digital and contribute to the development of cutting-edge data storage technology. As a Firmware Test Engineer, you will play a crucial role in ensuring the security and reliability of our SSD products. Your responsibilities will include developing and executing test plans, integrating security protocols, and collaborating with firmware developers. This position requires a Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field, along with 2+ years of experience in embedded firmware testing and proficiency in C/C++. Strong problem-solving skills, experience with debugging tools, and excellent communication are essential. Western Digital offers a comprehensive benefits package, including paid time off, health insurance, retirement plans, and more.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in computer science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or related field
• 2+ years of experience in embedded firmware testing, test development, debugging, and failure analysis with proficiency in C/C++ and one or more of the following, Python, JavaScript, TCL, for test automation
• Experience in firmware code review, CI/CD test and validation methodology, as well as static and dynamic code analysis. Familiarity with the Agile software development process life cycle is also desired
• Experience in GitHub, simulation, JTag, failure analysis and debugging of Hardware/Firmware issues
• Strong understanding of microcontroller architectures and debugging tools
• An engineer who can take ownership of given tasks and manage them from start to finish. Being self-motivated and driven is essential for this role
• Good communication skills and be able to work effectively with cross-functional teams

Responsibilities

• Develop test of various cryptography-based security features such as data encryption, Secure Boot, and Device Attestation
• Integrate these security protocols and features into the SSD data and control flows to ensure a robust and secure system. Additionally, investigate and resolve any issues that may arise with the compatibility of the security protocol
• Work with the firmware development team to implement test plans/test cases to validate firmware functionality
• Design, develop, execute, and analyze automated test scripts for hardware validation, system level, data path, and unit test
• Consult with development engineers to resolve problems
• Investigating failures, documenting bug reports, troubleshooting/isolating issues to root cause, down to the right component in the test ecosystem
• Debugging, optimizing, and validating the Firmware on SoC platforms, as well as bringing up FPGA and ASIC
• Contribute to the Security Development Lifecycle of the Firmware by supporting its development at different stages, including design, threat analysis, implementation, validation, and maintenance

Preferred Qualifications

• Detailed knowledge of RISC-V Instruction Set Architectures (ISA)
• Technical expertise in applied cryptography and firmware/hardware security, including knowledge of data encryption, trusted execution environment, secure boot, and device attestation
• Knowledge of storage controller architectures and security protocols, such as TCG Opal/Ruby/Pyrite, IEEE 1667, SPDM, and IDE
• Familiarity with writing code in GitHub repository and its CI/CD testing framework
• Hand-on experience in Firmware/Software development
• Hands-on in multi-threaded design and programming
• Strong in data structures, design patterns

Benefits

• 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
• Short-Term Incentive (STI) Plan
• Long-Term Incentive (LTI) program
• Restricted stock units (RSUs) or cash equivalents