Field Applications Engineering Sales

The Field Applications Engineering (FAE) is a high-impact, cross-functional leadership role responsible for driving strategic technical engagements across key North American customer accounts. This individual will lead the FAE team, remove operational roadblocks, and ensure successful sales and qualification of all drive products. 

As the Voice of the Customer within Western Digital, the FAE will align customer needs with internal product roadmap, foster joint technology partnerships, and build strategic bridges between customer stakeholders and Western Digital’s business units. This role demands leadership, technical depth, and the ability to influence both internal and external teams. 
 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

Customer & Technical Team Leadership 

• Serve as the primary escalation path for both customer and internal technical teams, resolving issues swiftly and communicating resolutions to executive management. 
• Attend technical customer meetings to maintain direct engagement and assess the proficiency and effectiveness of the technical teams. 
• Establish and nurture strong relationships with regional and strategic customers, acting as the technical focal point for all qualification needs. 
• Communicate and consolidate technical status updates for managed accounts to the leadership team. 

Team Enablement & Resource Optimization 

• Identify and request necessary resources such as training, databases, tools, and process enhancements to maximize team productivity. 
• Proactively remove roadblocks that hinder the FAE team’s ability to succeed in sales and product qualification efforts. 
• Work closely with the sales team to identify and capitalize on new business opportunities. 

Product Qualification & Lifecycle Management 

• Provide direct support for product qualification activities across regional accounts. 
• Define and manage qualification start and RTS (Release to Ship) dates to align with customer revenue build schedules. 
• Organize and participate in Concept and Product Design Reviews, ensuring all action items are tracked and closed. 
• Collect and communicate unique customer hardware and software requirements to the Application Engineering teams 
• Collaborate with customers on qualification schedules and ensure accurate status tracking in the company’s qualification database. 

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Coordinate with the System Integrity Test (SIT) teams, supplying customer-specific hardware and test-ware data to support successful product qualifications. 
• Ensure timely delivery and tracking of all customer product samples, including engineering and qualification units. 

Technical Expertise & On-Site Support 

• Provide on-site diagnostic support and failure analysis, including capturing bus traces, product logs, and performing initial assessments. 
• Ensure proper follow-up and closure of failure analysis issues by engaging subject matter experts.