SSD Mfg NPI Product Engineer, Nitro SSD

Amazon Web Services’ Hardware Engineering team is looking for experienced professionals to help build the world’s premier cloud computing platform. We are looking for Manufacturing Engineers who are capable of operating in a fast paced, ever changing, multi-platform international manufacturing and production environment. Our Manufacturing Engineers work closely with our ODMs, CMs, internal AWS hardware and software development teams, and with upstream component vendors to monitor and improve the incoming hardware quality of AWS products both proactively in the design phase as well as monitoring, reporting and investigating any early-life product failures. This role requires the engineer to be a technical contact and take on full ownership of the manufacturing launch and resolution of process issues. You will be the driver in getting production up and running, understanding root cause of hardware failures and resolving gaps in our suppliers manufacturing processes.

You’ll join a diverse team of software, hardware, and network engineers, supply chain specialists, security experts, operations managers, and other vital roles. You’ll collaborate with people across AWS to help us deliver the highest standards for safety and security while providing seemingly infinite capacity at the lowest possible cost for our customers. And you’ll experience an inclusive culture that welcomes bold ideas and empowers you to own them to completion.

The AWS Hardware Engineering team is driving rapid innovation in the server and storage infrastructure used by Amazon Web Services. Our designs are industry-leading in frugality and operational excellence, and are critical to the success of the AWS business and the more than one million customers who use AWS today.

The ideal candidate for this role will be an innovative self-starter. You will be an hardware manufacturing and reliability expert with experience in large scale production bring up, improving manufacturing quality, reliability and NPI lead time through hardware, software and process optimization. You will work with engineers across the company as well as external companies such as silicon vendors, contract and original design manufacturer on custom solid-state devices. You will collaborate with internal and external development engineers (architecture, hardware, validation, software services). AWS Engineers are shaping the way people use computers and designing the future of cloud computing technology – come help us make history!

What you will do: You will be a member of a team designing AWS-specific hardware, firmware and software for non-volatile memory devices, including NAND-based SSDs. You will be a part of the hardware development and production bring up effort from conception, through validation and into production. You will contribute to hardware development and lead manufacturing workflow optimization and yield/reliability improvement. You will work closely with AWS hardware and software engineers to tailor manufacturing process for the AWS environment.

Why it matters: Public cloud IT services represent the majority of growth in the overall IT services market and will continue to do so for several years to come. The scale of AWS, combined with an understanding of how our hardware is used, creates a unique opportunity for component customizations that will directly benefit our customers.

Why you will love it: You will work with engineers across the company to enable next-generation devices from prototyping to mass production. You will have a direct impact on our bottom line and the ability to deliver improvements for our developers. You will be part of a growing, fast paced, and fun team. You will have ownership for the implementation of your work. You will see direct product improvements based on the results of your work.

Key job responsibilities
- Evaluate and optimize product designs for quality assurance and manufacturing efficiency of solid state drive products and their integration with servers and rack systems
- Scale up manufacturing on new SSD products across a global network.
- Lead and oversee quality control processes across Contract Manufacturers (CM), Original Design Manufacturers (ODM), and component vendors
- Deliver hands-on technical support during new product introductions and launches
- Investigate and resolve customer escalations through comprehensive root cause analysis
- Define hardware reliability qualification plans and drive root cause and customer impact analysis for manufacturing reliability excursions, including AFR and DPPM estimation.
- Drive Operational Readiness Review (ORR) and Ok2Ship for Manufacturing site readiness assessment.

A day in the life
- Participate in production standups and yield review meetings with CM and ODM
- Monitor manufacturing quality metrics and triage hardware or firmware issues in production
- Monitor and audit reliability demonstration tests, reviewing results and driving pass/fail decisions
- Lead cross-functional discussions with silicon vendors, CM, and ODM on process improvements
- Review and interpret reliability test data, driving qualification decisions for new hardware
- Coordinate manufacture-related firmware releases and validate deployment readiness
- Audit manufacturing processes and identify opportunities to improve yield and reduce cycle time
- Report production status, reliability milestones, and risk assessments for Leadership review
- 1:1's with leadership team, hardware/firmware engineers, and key vendor partners


About the team
Nitro SSD is the fastest growing NAND flash-memory based storage solution for AWS. The 3rd generation Nitro SSD is now available for AWS customers on both Intel and Graviton storage platforms. This is the latest milestone in the AWS Nitro SSD strategy. We deliver industry leading performance and tail latency, while offering a cost competitive, high density storage solution for AWS customers. We own ALL the firmware, hardware, software and telemetry/monitoring for ALL the devices in the fleet. We partner will global NAND vendors, SoC vendors and manufacturing partners to drive the full product-lifecycle for Nitro SSD.

AWS Hardware Engineering Services organization support all AWS data centers and all of the servers, storage, networking, power, and cooling equipment that ensure our customers have continual access to the innovation they rely on. We work on the most challenging problems, with thousands of variables impacting the supply chain — and we’re looking for talented people who want to help.

Basic Qualifications

- Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing Engineering or similar related field or equivalent experience.
- 3+ years of Manufacturing Engineering work experience with storage drives, server platforms or on high-tech hardware
- 2+ years of product development experience
- 2+ years of statistical analysis and reliability testing (JEDEC standards, accelerated life testing)
- Experience with failure analysis techniques to evaluate production and field failures, driving root cause analysis and resolution

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience with Six Sigma tools and Lean techniques
- Six Sigma Green Belt, or Six Sigma Black Belt
- Experience working with device technologies under development, familiarity with flashing firmware, basic device debugging and familiarity with reading/pulling device logs
- Experience working with interdisciplinary teams to execute product design from concept to production
- Experience with the project management of technical projects

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, CA, Cupertino - 157,300.00 - 212,800.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 136,000.00 - 184,000.00 USD annually