Principal Engineer, Customer Validation

Job Title

Principal Engineer, Customer Validation

Role Summary

Hands-on technical contributor responsible for customer-focused system validation of enterprise and data-center SSDs. Owns validation execution, debugging, qualification, and coordination across firmware, hardware, and systems teams for assigned programs.

Primary mission: ensure customer platforms and SSD products meet qualification and reliability targets through test planning, execution, automation, and root-cause analysis.

Experience Level

Senior — typically requires 8+ years of experience in customer, product, or system validation roles.

Responsibilities

The role executes and improves system- and drive-level validation for customer platforms and SSDs.

• Plan and run customer-specific validation cycles, regressions, and qualification runs.
• Set up and maintain validation environments and testbeds; analyze results to drive root-cause resolution.
• Perform system-level and drive-level debugging to reproduce and resolve customer-reported issues.
• Develop and enhance validation test cases, scripts, and automation frameworks.
• Own validation execution for assigned programs and mentor developing engineers.
• Coordinate across firmware, hardware, and systems teams and communicate status to customers and stakeholders.
• Apply AI and automation techniques to improve validation efficiency and test coverage.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience for successful performance in this role.

• 8+ years of experience in customer, product, or system validation roles (system-level validation in complex HW/SW environments).
• Strong knowledge of NVMe and PCIe protocols and debugging across system, firmware, and hardware domains.
• Proven hands-on experience executing validation, regression, and qualification runs.
• Experience collaborating with multi-functional engineering teams (firmware, hardware, systems).
• Proficiency in scripting/programming (Python, C/C++ or similar) and validation methodologies.
• Experience applying AI or automation to improve organizational or validation efficiency.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience supporting OEM, hyperscale, or cloud customer qualification programs.
• Prior ownership of customer-facing validation execution and technical leadership or mentoring experience.
• Familiarity with industry certifications, compatibility testing, or joint qualification processes.
• Strong communication skills for multi-functional and customer-facing interactions.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field is listed as the baseline; the role is paired with 8+ years of relevant validation experience. Familiarity with industry certifications is noted as preferred. (Education and field-of-study references were taken from the position's minimum qualifications.)

About the Company

Company: Micron Technology

Headquarters: Boise, Idaho, USA

Micron Technology is a global leader in memory and storage solutions, dedicated to transforming how the world uses information. The company offers a diverse portfolio of high-performance DRAM, NAND, and NOR memory products under the Micron and Crucial brands. With a commitment to customer focus and technological innovation, Micron drives advancements in artificial intelligence, 5G, and other data-centric applications, empowering users to learn, communicate, and progress.