Sr. Director of Engineering

Job Title: Senior Director of Qualification & Testing
Location: San Jose, CA
Reports To: VP, Engineering, Quality and Product Marketing, HDD Division

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly driven and technically skilled Senior Director of Qualification and Testing to lead a team of engineers in San Jose, CA. This role serves as a key bridge between our engineering support organization, hyperscale data center and OEM customers, and our design and customer teams in Japan. The successful candidate will oversee the qualification and deployment of HDD products, ensuring technical excellence, customer satisfaction, and seamless global collaboration. Occasional travel to Japan and customer sites will be required.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing engineering team in San Jose, fostering technical excellence and customer-first culture.

• Manage the qualification and deployment of HDD products for hyperscale data centers and OEM customers.

• Act as the primary technical escalation point, ensuring alignment between product capabilities and customer requirements.

• Represent the customer’s voice internally, influencing product development, quality initiatives, and long-term strategy.

• Build and maintain strong cross-functional relationships with design and customer engineering teams in Japan, as well as other global teams.

Required Skills & Traits

• Strong technical foundation with the ability to learn quickly and resolve complex issues independently.

• Proficiency in Linux and Windows environments, open-source test tools (e.g., FIO, libzbc, blktrace, blkzone, smartctl, sg_raw), PostgreSQL, Python, Bash, PowerShell, and SATA/SAS protocol analyzers.

• Ability to navigate internal tools, technical documentation, and quality systems with ease.

• Hands-on leadership style, setting the example while challenging and mentoring the team to grow.

• Clear and precise communicator with sound judgment under pressure.

• Self-motivated, detail-oriented, and results-driven—thriving in collaborative, cross-cultural environments.

Experience & Education

• Master’s degree in engineering, preferably computer science.

• 10+ years of leadership experience in a similar role, ideally within the HDD industry.

• Strong familiarity with cloud storage systems and architecture is highly desirable.