Vice President Controls and Recording Engineering

Job description

About our group: The Controls and Recording Engineering organization is responsible for transforming recording-system and servo innovations into product-ready capabilities that enable Seagate's future storage roadmap. As a key part of Design Engineering, this global team serves as the critical bridge between advanced technology development and product integration, ensuring new technologies are mature, validated, and ready for successful deployment. The organization brings together expertise in Advanced Recording Subsystems, Controls Engineering, Servo Systems, Heads and Media, Channel Electronics, ASICs, Firmware, and Test Engineering to deliver integrated solutions that drive capacity growth, product performance, and reliability across Seagate's portfolio. About the role - you will: Define the strategic direction, technology portfolio, resource plans, and investment priorities for Controls and Recording Engineering in alignment with product and capacity roadmaps. Lead the staging and maturation of new recording and controls technologies for current and future product generations. Establish technology readiness criteria, ownership models, risk assessments, and integration plans to support successful product transitions. Build and lead focused cross-functional teams that accelerate learning, validate system-level performance, and prepare technologies for production deployment. Drive coordinated execution across recording, servo, heads and media, channel, preamp, ASIC, firmware, mechanical, reliability, manufacturing, and test engineering organizations. Develop and implement advanced engineering methodologies leveraging modeling, simulation, experimentation, data analytics, automation, and AI-enabled engineering tools. Generate tactical and strategic capacity growth projections and technology roadmaps that support long-term business planning. Provide executive-level visibility into technical maturity, integration risks, roadmap tradeoffs, and key decision points. Lead the design and integration of recording and controls architectures for current and next-generation storage products. Oversee development of servo format architectures, servo electronics integration, controller design, advanced control features, and subsystem optimization. Drive component and subsystem integration across suspensions, heads, media, preamps, channels, and related technologies. Maintain relentless focus on areal density growth, product reliability, manufacturing scalability, and performance improvement. Build a high-performing global organization through talent development, succession planning, leadership growth, and technical capability advancement. Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, inclusion, collaboration, and technical excellence consistent with Seagate values. About you: You are a systems thinker who effectively connects component physics, subsystem interactions, product requirements, manufacturing capabilities, and business outcomes. You are a technically credible leader who uses data, evidence, and sound engineering judgment to prioritize investments and drive results. You excel at leading through complexity, ambiguity, and technical uncertainty. You are an outstanding communicator who creates alignment and shared ownership across global organizations. You demonstrate strong executive presence and influence across technical and business leadership teams. You champion Seagate's values of Integrity, Innovation, and Inclusion. You are passionate about developing future technical and organizational leaders. Your experience includes: Executive leadership experience in complex, high-technology product development environments. Proven success leading large, global, multidisciplinary engineering organizations. Demonstrated ability to transition emerging technologies from concept through product qualification and production readiness. Strong technical expertise in one or more of the following areas: Controls Engineering Recording Systems Systems Engineering Electronics Engineering Mechatronics Semiconductor Technologies Advanced Storage Technologies Experience driving technology portfolio management and investment decisions in environments with significant technical uncertainty. Track record of delivering business results through innovation, organizational leadership, and strategic execution. Success developing senior technical leaders and building robust succession pipelines. Master's degree or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Experience within data storage, semiconductor, electronics, or similarly complex engineering industries preferred. You Might Also Have: Experience leading advanced recording technology development within the data storage industry. Deep understanding of HDD architecture, servo systems, recording physics, and subsystem integration. Experience applying AI, machine learning, advanced analytics, and automation techniques to engineering development processes. Experience supporting long-range capacity planning and technology roadmap development. History of leading geographically distributed engineering organizations across multiple regions. Location: This position follows an onsite work structure. The role may be based in Shakopee, Minnesota, Longmont, Colorado, or Fremont, California. Shakopee (Shakopee, MN): Our Shakopee campus is located 25 minutes southwest of Minneapolis in a setting with a rural vibe – it overlooks a horse racing track and stables, yet it has great entertainment venues close by as well. With wide- (open spaces, the campus has plenty of space for running, biking, shooting some hoops or playing volleyball over lunch. If working out is your thing, the on-site fully equipped fitness center hosts wellness programs, tournaments and group workouts. Hungry? Seagate offers an on-site café with freshly sourced foods and specialty coffees, or if you prefer, drive to one of many restaurants just minutes away. Longmont: Our Longmont product-design campus is nestled against the foothills with exceptional views of the Rocky Mountains. Here at work, you can grab breakfast and lunch in the on-site cafeteria or get an afternoon espresso, prepared by a professional barista. Our 1,500+ employees enjoy an active on-site experience from sporting activities (get in a few laps at lunch on our 1-mile walking path around campus, play ping-pong or volleyball, or stop in our 24- hour fitness center for a group or individual workout) to community service and many employee resource groups including Pride!, Women’s Leadership Network and a Young Professionals Network. Fremont: Our Gold LEED-certified Fremont product-design campus drives innovation, bringing together a diverse set of engineering, design, operations, support and administrative teams. The site is equipped with state-of-the-art clean room and lab space. On-site social activities are popular, including our annual BBQ, ice cream social, and holiday events. Wellness programs, gaming rooms and the on-site fitness center help round out and balance your Seagate work-life experience, along with opportunities to give back to our local community. The estimated base salary range for this position is $265,000 - $320,000. The individual salary is based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Seagate offers comprehensive benefits to its eligible employees, including, but not limited to eligibility to participate in discretionary bonus program, medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, short-and long-term disability, 401(k), employee stock purchase plan, health savings account, dependent care, and healthcare spending accounts. Seagate also offers paid time off, including 12 holidays, flexible time off provided pursuant to Seagate policy, a minimum of 48 hours of paid sick leave, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave. The benefits for this position are based on a full-time schedule for a full calendar year and may differ depending on work location. This position offers an opportunity to lead one of Seagate's most strategically important engineering organizations, driving the technologies that enable future generations of industry-leading storage solutions. Location : Shakopee, United States Travel : Up to 10%